2023 Rules Info

Game Rules

● Games are played on a 40 yard field + 10 yard end-zone and regulation width.
● To begin or at change of possession, the ball is always placed at the 40 yard-line.
● Mouthpieces are REQUIRED for all players, soft helmets STRONGLY recommended.
● Each team plays 3 seeding games to determine placement in the double elimination bracket.
● 1 coach is allowed on the field in the offensive huddle, but not on defense.
● 7th grade + teams are allowed to jam receivers at the line of scrimmage (LOS) for the first 5 yards, 5th & 6th can bump one time and release.
● One hand touch is sufficient to down the ball carrier. ● No rushing the ball, only forward passes are allowed to advance the ball. (No backward passes)
● Teams will provide their own ball, any size is allowed.
● Teams should all have the same color shirt/jersey. We advise bringing an alternate white jersey in the case you play a team with the same color jersey.
● Motion penalties are the same as normal football.
● The QB can take a snap off T, or the center must snap the ball to begin play but is not an eligible receiver. (No shotgun from the 40)
● Offense has 5 eligible receivers. You cannot start a play with 5 receivers on one side of the ball, must be legal football formations.
● The QB has 4 seconds to throw the ball or it counts as a sack, ball placed at original LOS. Play is dead on a sack, no IT's allowed after 4 seconds.
● 4 second call: Ref starts the clock as the QB takes the snap, they watch the play. When the ball is released, they click stop on the watch, but keep their eyes off the field. At the conclusion of the play they will check the watch to assure that the play went off within
the 4 second time frame. If not, at that time they will call sack and the play will be void.
● Clock will run continuously for 25 minutes during seeding games. During elimination games - each team has one 40 second timeout per game.
● Teams have 40 seconds between plays. Delay of game is a loss of down.
● Each defense is allowed to blitz one time per game.
● Defensive pass interference and holding penalties are 5 yard penalty + automatic first down.
● All offensive penalties are a loss of down. Blocking is not allowed, loss of down.
● Tackling or any play where it’s determined a player intentionally took down a player will result in an automatic first down. Two such penalties to the same player will result in ejection.
● Fumbled snap can be picked up and played (within 4 seconds), fumble after catch is dead ball.
● Game ends when the clock expires. In the event of a tie during seeding, the game will end resulting in a tie. During elimination, each team will get an opportunity from the 10 yard line. If you score, you can elect to take the 7 or go for 8. If it is still tied after each team’s
attempt, it will be a longest yard scenario. Each team gets one play, the longest pass play wins. An interception ends the game.
● In the event of a forfeit during seeding, the score will be entered as 16-0.
● ABSOLUTELY NO FIGHTING- we have the right to remove players, coaches, parents or teams as a whole from the tournament if there is fighting. Brackets are double elimination until you get to the championship game, and then its winner takes all. There will not be a 2nd game if the loser of the championship game comes from the winner bracket. Championship game will determine the tournament winner.

Scoring:

● Touch downs = 7pts automatic
○ you can attempt a 2 pt conversion from the 10 YL,
○ if unsuccessful, TD is worth 6 pts,
○ if successful TD is worth 8 pts. Interceptions = 2 pts
● From the 40, teams will have three downs to get the ball to 25, three downs to get to the 10, and four downs to score once inside the 10

2023 KINGS OF THE BREAK

OFFICIAL FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT RULES

Maximum players on a team

24 players

 

Field Dimensions

Field Length will be 50 yards. 40-yard playing field with a 10-yard end zone.

 

Starting Each Game

  • A coin toss will determine which team gets the ball first. That team will begin possession of the ball on the 40-yard line with their choice of hash
  • A whistle will begin each game
  • Each game lasts 25 minutes with a running clock (Overtime in Pool Play)

● If a team scores a touchdown with no time remaining on the clock, they DO NOT get to attempt their extra point

    • The official will declare when the clock is under 2 minutes
    • The clock never stops, with the exception of an injury or referee timeout
    • A whistle will end each game
    • The referees will keep the official score and time on the field for eachgame
    • Soft Helmets and mouthguards must be worn correctly at all times by allplayers except the QB. If a player does not have a helmet they cannot participate until they do.

 

Moving the Ball

  • Offense always starts on the 40-yard line with their choice of the hash. After any change of possession
  • All snaps at the 40-yard line must be off the QB-TEE (No Shotgun). Upon gaining a yard or more, QB may take a shotgun off QB-TEE
  • Offense has three (3) downs to gain a first down. First down markers will be at the 25, and 10-yard lines
  • Once inside the 10-yard line, the offense has 3 downs to score a touchdown
  • The first person to control the football off the QB-Tee is the QB. The QB is never eligible to run
  • The offense may run the ball as many times as they want on any down during the game; with the exception of overtime. The QB is allowed to make one exchange (ex. Pass, handoff or toss). No toss passes, reverses or hook and ladder
  • Defensive players cannot cross the line on a run play until the quarterback hands the ball off to the RB
  • Quarterback can NEVER run the ball
  • After the offense scores a touchdown, they have the option of going for 1point from the 5-yard line, or going for 2 points from the 10-yard line. Offense chooses hash for ball placement. If the coach doesn’t respond to the official on which yard-line, the official will place the ball on the 5-yard line to go for 1 point. Once this decision is made, coaches cannot overturn this decision

 

Coaching your Team

    • There will be one offensive coach allowed on the field at any time and THREE (3) active athletes behind him only. (One warning then delay of game penalty)
    • The coach must be positioned behind the offensive huddle
    • Coaches are not allowed to challenge any official ruling
    • Remaining team coaches can work from the sidelines
    • NO defensive coaches allowed on the field
    • Coaches will be given 1 sideline warning during play. Second warning will result in a 10-yard penalty or half the distance to the goal. Third warning will result in coach’s ejection
    • Any form of cheating qualifies for automatic team disqualification at the tournament!

 

Special Rules

  • NO BLITZING ALLOWED in the ENTIRE game (INCLUDING overtime). If a team blitz’s, they will be penalized 15 yards, unsportsman
  • NO blocking
  • Blocking will result in a loss of down, return to the previous spot
  • Face guarding is allowed
  • Ball carrier is legally down when touched below the neck with one hand orthe ball carrier’s elbow/knee, or the football touches the ground. A defender CAN leave his feet to make a tag. The offensive player can leave his feet also
  • Fumbles (Including snap) are dead balls at the spot with the last team incontrol retaining possession at the spot
  • Offensive team will have 25 seconds to put the ball into play. Delay ofgame is a loss of down
  • The offensive team is responsible for retrieving and returning the ball tothe official. The clock does not stop, and any delay of the offense inretrieving and returning the ball to the official will result in delay of game
  • Defensive pass interference will result in a 15-yard penalty and anautomatic first down. Defensive holding will result in a 10-yard penalty andrepeat the down
  • Offensive pass interference will result in a return to the previous spot plusa loss of down
  • The QB is allowed 4.0 seconds to throw the ball. Referees will stop play if4.0 seconds is surpassed, which will result in a loss of down
  • An interception will result in an immediate stoppage of play and a changeof possession with the interception team gaining possession at the 30-yard line. If an unsportsman penalty is given to the interception team, they will be penalized 10 yards and will start from the 40-yard line
  • Excessive celebration is not allowed and will not be tolerated. At the discretion of the referee, if a team is penalized for excessively celebrating or clearing of the sideline, the result is an unsportsmanlike penalty and a loss of down
  • A game cannot end on a defensive penalty. If this occurs, the offense will have an untimed down if time has expired
  • The offense (wide receivers) has to line up outside the tackle box, and one receiver has to be on the line on each side. If not, the offense will be penalized illegal formation and a loss of down
  • Fighting will not be tolerated. If a player throws a punch, he is ejected immediately and CANNOT return to the game. If players are involved in pushing or shoving, they may be ejected immediately from the game at the referees’ discretion. If a second incident occurs with the same player(s), they will be ejected from the tournament in its entirety. If a team’s bench clears, resulting in a fight, both of the teams are ejected, resulting in a forfeit. The referee has the right to throw out any player, players, or team out of the game. The GidIron University - Kings of the Break staff has the right in extreme cases to eject players, coaches, teams, and by-standers of any tournament and they will have to leave the facility immediately. A referee can also give a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty
  • GridIron University - Kings of the Break staff WILL NOT overturn a referee’s call!

 

Overtime/Tie Breaker

  • Games in BRACKET PLAY (SINGLE-ELIMINATION) that end in a tie will go to a tiebreaker. There will be a coin toss at the beginning of the tiebreaker with the home team calling the toss. The winner will choose to be on either offense or defense
  • Each team will have 2 plays from the QB-tee from the 10-yard line, choice of hash. If you score, you receive the standard 6 points
  • There is NO running in overtime. All plays MUST be a pass
  • If the offense scores, then they MUST choose to go for 1 point from the5-yard line, or 2 points from the 10-yard line. If the coach doesn’t respond to the official on which yard-line, the official will place the ball on the 5-yard line to go for 1 point. Once this decision is made, coaches cannot overturn this decision
  • The opposing team gets the same opportunity to win
  • If neither team scores or it still ends as a tie, we will flip the coin againthen back to the standard longest passing yard from the 40-yard line.There is no running allowed in the longest yard situations
  • The team with the most yards will be declared the winner of the tiebreakerand will add 1 point to the final score
  • If there is no completion, or the deepest completion is equal, thetiebreaker will be repeated with the team that lost the initial coin tossmaking the choice to either take offense or defense.
  • This format will be repeated until a clear winner is declared
  • This tiebreaker format will be used in SINGLE-ELIMINATION GAMESONLY. Shoot-Out Bracket Format
  • All teams will be seeded in the bracket based on Day 1 win/loss and day 1 schedule
  • All teams will play a minimum of 3 games during the event, unless otherwise noted

 

BRACKET SEEDING WILL BE DETERMINED BY:

● Wins/losses, points scored, and point differential. If after these determinations there is still a tie, the system will automatically do a coin flip to determine team seeding

 

POINT VALUES

Offensive touchdown = 6 points. After the touchdown, the team MUST elect to go for 1 point from the 5-yard line or 2 points from the 10-yard line.

 

Penalties

 

AGE DIVISIONS

  • 5/6 Grade / 12U – Player must be in the current 6th grade or lower or be 12 years old or younger.
  • 7/8 Grade / 14U – Player must be in the current 8th grade or lower or be 14 years old or younger.
  • Freshman / 15U – Player must be in the current 9th grade or lower or be 15 years old or younger.
  • * High School / 18U – Player must be in the 11th grade or lower. NO SENIORS.
  • * High School Senior – Players in High School including CURRENT SENIORS.* Athletes CANNOT be older than 18 years of age at time of tournamentPLEASE HELP US KEEP OUR FIELDS CLEAN; EACH TEAM IS RESPONSIBLE FOR CLEAN UP OF WATER BOTTLES AND TRASH ON THEIR OWN SIDELINES. THANK YOU!!!