'Long overdue' HS football rule change helps protect quarterbacks, cuts down on penalties

Corey Petruzzella has had to endure as many hard hits over the past three seasons as any quarterback in North Jersey.

So the Paramus senior – and likely every high school quarterback in the United States – is happy that an archaic rule has been replaced by a new one that should increase player safety and decrease penalties.

Just like college and NFL quarterbacks trying to avoid a sack, Petruzzella and his peers are now allowed to throw the ball away when they're outside the pocket, also known as the “tackle box,” and not be penalized for intentional grounding.

The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) finally sacked a little-known – and despised - rule that required quarterbacks to throw the ball “in the vicinity” of a receiver to avoid a penalty for intentional grounding. That often led quarterbacks to throw bad passes or keep the ball and sustain more punishing hits. All the new rule requires is the passer's throw to reach the line of scrimmage.

“I think it’s really helped the game, because they’re trying to protect the quarterbacks more,” said Petruzzella, a three-year starter. “In my opinion, that’s good, because if your starting quarterback goes down, that’s a game changer.”

The old rule seemed to hold high schoolers to a higher standard than collegians and pros. By prohibiting high schoolers to throw the ball out of bounds, it increased their chances of being intercepted, or worse, injured as they scrambled outside the tackle box to avoid a sack and sustained a hard hit.

“Most of the time, there were no receivers in my vicinity, so I couldn’t throw it away,” said the 6-foot, 160-pound Petruzzella. “So I had to run it on my own, and there’s four people coming at me, so I had to scramble out of there and get pummeled by all of them.”

“We’ve got our best athlete playing quarterback, everybody’s roster is down, kids are getting hurt – this should have been a no-brainer years ago,” said Westwood’s Dennis Hard, who has been coaching for 43 years and vigorously opposed the old rule for decades.

From quarterbacks to coaches to fans, the old rule was despised, largely because most people were unaware that it was different – and stricter – than the college and NFL rule.

“I was penalized for intentional grounding [last year] and I went up to the ref and said, ‘What do you mean intentional grounding – I was out of the box,’” Rutherford senior quarterback Van Weber said. “And he said, ‘That’s not a rule in high school.’ And I was shocked, because I didn’t know that rule until then.”

Some fans in the stands, especially those who spend Sundays watching the NFL, became irate when they saw flags for intentional grounding. Referees were regularly berated by yells of, “He was outside the pocket!” And quarterback’s decision-making was often questioned with comments such as, “Why didn’t he just throw it out of bounds?”

Referees were no fan of the old rule, which often led to vastly different viewpoints on whether a receiver was in the vicinity of the throw. Some officials were much more lenient than others.

“I felt like kids got away with that a lot,” DePaul coach Nick Campanile said. “They didn’t call it as much as they could have in the past, so they needed to make this the official rule.”

“Nobody wants to get their quarterback hurt,” he added. “Less hits on the quarterback is good for all of us. That’s the good of the rule, and I think that’s good for everyone.”

Mark Bitar, the referee assigner for the Super Football Conference and North Jersey Interscholastic Conference, "loves" the rule because it makes the game safer for quarterbacks. And he wants people to know that the new rule also has a provision that makes it broader than the college and NFL rule.

“Whatever player has the ball and comes outside the tackle box, if they throw the ball, as long as it reaches the line of scrimmage, they can consider it to have legally grounded the ball," Bitar said.

“The difference between college, NFL and high school is it does not have to be the person who received the snap. For example, if you have a running back who gets the ball, and he comes outside the tackle box and he’s going to be tackled, if he throws the ball and it reaches the line of scrimmage, and there’s nobody [receiver] in the area, it’s a legally grounded ball.”

What else they're saying

“It’s pretty obvious that the state, and universally, the game is moving towards keeping the kids, the athletes, safe. And this is another rule to protect the kids as much as we can.” − Paramus coach Joe Sabella

“I think it’s long overdue. A rule like this doesn’t compromise the integrity of our game, but at the same time, it increases player safety at the quarterback position.” − Rutherford coach Steve Dunn

“I think it’s better for safety, because now quarterbacks, or whatever player comes out, they have the ability to get rid of the ball and don’t have to take a hit or run away from a defender,” − Bitar

“I always roll out and throw the ball, so it’s really helped me. I get out of the pocket and if nothing’s open, and I can’t run, I throw it away.” − Petruzzella

“When I have to throw the ball away, it only helps us, because we get another chance to get back to the ball and try to get a first down. It’s, ‘When in doubt, and you feel any pressure, you just throw the ball away.’ You can never go wrong.” − St. Joseph quarterback Luke Henrich

“It eliminates the need to force a ball and risk an interception. So getting out of the pocket and just being able to throw it away without being penalized is better for every quarterback, and it doesn’t matter what level.” − Weber

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ football: 'Long overdue' rule change helps protect quarterbacks