W. Va. Code R. § 127-3-23

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024

Section 127-3-23 - Football

23.1. Rules: Football rules published by the NFHS are the official rules for all interscholastic competition unless otherwise provided by Commission modification.

23.2. Organized Team Practice: Organized team conditioning practice will begin on Monday of Week 5 and the first contest may be played during Week 8.

23.2.a. The following table establishes for high school the equipment/contact level, earliest date for scrimmage or Grid-O-Rama, date for first contest, and date season must be completed.

Year	First Date Organized Practice Helmets Only No Contact	First Date Helmet & Shoulder Pads Soft Equipment Contact (Bag, Shields, Sleds, Tackling Wheel, etc.)	First Date Full Pads Soft Equipment Contact (Bag, Shields, Sleds, Tackling Wheel, etc.)	First Date Full Pads Full Contact	Earliest Scrimmage or Grid-O-Rama after 4:00 p.m.	First Contest	Date Season Must Be Completed
2024	Aug. 5 and 6	Aug. 7 and 8	Aug. 9	Aug. 10	Aug. 16	Aug. 26	Nov. 9
2025	Aug. 4 and 5	Aug. 6 and 7	Aug. 8	Aug. 9	Aug. 15	Aug. 25	Nov. 8
2026	Aug. 3 and 4	Aug. 5 and 6	Aug. 7	Aug. 8	Aug. 14	Aug. 24	Nov. 7
2027	Aug. 2 and 3	Aug. 4 and 5	Aug. 6	Aug. 7	Aug. 13	Aug. 23	Nov. 6
2028	July 31 and Aug. 1	Aug. 2 and 3	Aug. 4	Aug. 5	Aug. 11	Aug. 21	Nov. 4

23.2.b. Individual students of a team must have practiced on 12 separate days, exclusive of the day of a contest, before participating in an interscholastic contest.

23.2.c. In season football camps sponsored by a member school or by other school related organizations where football coaching and instruction are given are not permitted.

23.2.d. The use of football uniforms, protective equipment, tackling or blocking dummies, charging sleds, or similar devices are strictly prohibited during the conditioning program. During the date of pads no live contact, the use of sleds, shields, and blocking dummies is allowed to permit gradual adaptation of the students to carrying the weight of their pads and adjusting to temperature variation.

23.3. Length of Season: The football season will end for each team at the end of the regular season or by play-off elimination.

23.4. Maximum Team Contests: A football team will be permitted to play no more than 10 games exclusive of the play-off games.

23.4.a. The total number of quarters for a student in one season is 50 exclusive of the play-off games.

23.4.b. A student may only play four quarters in one day.

23.4.c. Any student who participated in one or more downs in one quarter shall be charged with one quarter of play. Downs in which the football teams are in a free kick formation, or the offensive team is in a scrimmage kick formation, as defined in the NFHS Football Rule Book, will not count as a down.

23.4.d. Overtime is considered as an extension of the fourth quarter.

23.4.e. Interscholastic practice game in which teams representing a member school play against alumni or others is not allowed.

23.5. A football team is permitted to participate in a Grid-O-Rama and one preseason scrimmage or two preseason scrimmages. (See Glossary for definitions of Grid-O-Rama and Scrimmage.)

23.6. Special Regulations:

23.6.a. All rules and regulations of these bylaws pertaining to football are also applicable to six-man and eight-man football.

23.6.b. Any member of a freshman team who plays in a varsity contest (scrimmage, Grid-o-Rama or game) is ineligible to return to the freshman team.

23.6.c. A student may not play or practice on a non-school football team while a member of the school team.

23.7. A student may accept awards for WVSSAC sanctioned and non-sanctioned events during the entire year. These awards must be consistent with the items specified in the §127-3-5.

23.8. The Board of Directors is authorized to adopt a point rating system and overall procedure for determining a state champion in each class.

23.9. Middle Schools: The above rules will apply for middle schools with the following adaptations:

23.9.a. Organized team conditioning practice will begin on Monday of Week 6 and the first game played during Week 9.

23.9.b. The following table establishes, for middle school the equipment/contact level, earliest date for a scrimmage, the date for first contest and the date season must be completed.

Year	First Date Organized Practice Helmets Only. No Contact	First Date Helmet and Shoulder Pads. Soft Equipment Contact (Bag, Shields, Sleds, Tackling Wheel, Etc.)	Full Pads. Soft Equipment Contact (Bag, Shields, Sleds, Tackling Wheel, Etc.)	Full Pads Full Contact	Earliest Scrimmage	First Contest	Date Season Must be Completed
2024	Aug 12, 13, and 14	Aug. 15, 16, and 17	Aug. 19 and 20	Aug. 21, 22, 23, and 24	Aug. 26	Sept. 2	Nov. 2
2025	Aug. 11, 12, and 13	Aug. 14, 15, and 16	Aug. 18 and 19	Aug. 20, 21, 22, and 23	Aug. 25	Sept. 1	Nov. 1
2026	Aug. 10, 11, and 12	Aug. 13, 14, and 15	Aug. 17 and 18	Aug. 19, 20, 21, and 22	Aug. 24	Aug. 31	Oct. 31
2027	Aug. 9, 10, and 11	Aug. 12, 13, and 14	Aug. 16 and 17	Aug. 18, 19, and 20	Aug. 23	Aug. 30	Oct. 30
2028	Aug. 7, 8, and 9	Aug. 10, 11, and 12	Aug. 14 and 15	Aug. 16, 17, and 18	Aug. 21	Aug. 28	Oct. 28

23.9.c. The football season will end on Saturday of Week 17.

23.9.d. Not more than eight interscholastic football games shall be played, excepting one league playoff game. There shall be a nine game limit, even if league playoff games are used, and the extra game is limited to two teams. Leagues choosing to have the extra playoff game may participate in a two quarter Grid-O-Rama in place of a scrimmage game, if agreed to before the start of the season.

23.9.e. The total number of quarters for a middle school student in one season is 40, exclusive of the playoff game in §127-3-23.4.

23.9.f. A middle school football team is allowed one preseason scrimmage under the following conditions:

23.9.f.1. Scrimmage will not be played under game conditions.

23.9.f.2. Scrimmage must be played prior to first game of regular season.

23.9.f.3. Admission may be charged.

23.9.f.4. Registered officials may be used.

23.9.g. Middle school football teams shall play overtime periods in regular season games. Overtime periods will be played until a winner is determined in accordance with the NFHS Football Rules "20 yard line overtime procedure."

23.9.h. Middle school game ball: The football used involving only students in the 8^th grade and below shall be the youth football. Modification of the rule is listed in the NFHS Rule Book, Rule 1-3-1.

23.9.i. Length of Quarters: For teams composed of students in any combination of 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th grades, the length of quarters shall be eight minutes.

23.9.j. A 9^th grade team in a high school program will follow the rules provided for high school.

W. Va. Code R. § 127-3-23