Hartford Area Flag Football

Hartford Flag Football Rules

Equipment

All players must wear a protective mouthguard; there are no exceptions. If referee notices player without a mouthguard, player is to be substituted out until they have one.
Jerseys must be tucked in to shorts/pants at all times so as to not cover the flags. One team warning will be given and then the penalty is loss of down and ball back at original line of scrimmage for each additional offense.
All players on the field must wear a set of flags provided by the league.
Tennis shoes or rubber cleats are allowed. No metal cleats of any kind.
No necklaces or jewelry can be worn by players on the field for safety purposes.
Players must wear the uniform/jersey provided by the league.
Players can wear gloves, stocking caps, as desired per weather conditions. If wearing a hoodie, the hood must be tucked inside the jersey so it cannot be pulled from behind (to avoid inadvertent horse-collar tackles).

Gameplay
Team Possessions

Teams are played 5 vs 5 though in younger divisions, 4 vs 4 is acceptable if a team is short players that day.
Rock-Paper-Scissors determines first possession!
At the beginning of each play, the ball must be snapped from the center to the quarterback. This can either be through the legs or around the side of the snapper.
K-1 Division only: If a normal snap is dropped and it does not affect the play, play on! This is not considered a fumble unless it is muffed several feet away from the snapper. Would rather kids keep plays moving than be concerned about a briefly dropped snap, especially at the youngest grade levels. 234 Division: if any snap is dropped (normal or shotgun), the play is dead and next down starts at previous line of scrimmage.
The offensive team starts a possession of the ball at its 5-yard line and has four (4) plays to cross midfield. If the offensive team fails to cross midfield, possession of the ball changes and the opposition starts its drive from midfield (i.e. defense is rewarded with a “short field” after a stop).
The offensive team has the option to “punt” to the defense’s 5yd line on 4th down prior to reaching midfield if desired. Ball is not actually kicked - defense just starts a new possession on the opposite end of the field at their own 5yd line. This is intended to be used for strategy in a close game!
Once a team crosses midfield, it has four (4) more plays to score a touchdown. If the offense fails to score, the ball changes possession and the new offensive team takes over at its own 5yd line.
Interceptions are allowed to be fully returned for touchdowns in 2-3-4 Division only. For all other interceptions not fully returned, defense will take possession either at their 5yd line (if intercepted prior to midfield) or at midfield if intercepted past it.
If the defensive team gets a safety, the offense will keep the ball on the 1 yard line after the loss of down. No points are awarded for safeties in any division.
Teams in K-1 will be allowed to have a MAX of 2 coaches on the field during game play to help with defensive player alignment and giving offensive play instruction. In 2-3-4 Division, teams will be allowed to have a MAX of 1 coach on the field during game play several yards behind the line of scrimmage.
THREE TOUCH RULE: NO PLAYER is allowed to rush the ball more than 3 times on a single 8 play drive. Playing quarterback and throwing to other players does not count as a "touch". Coaches are encouraged to spread the ball around to all players and have them play all positions! Coaches are to rotate players to provide equal playing time for all.
Scores and standings will be kept/published for all divisions. Playoffs will conclude the season on the last weekend. Seeding will be based on Overall Record. Points Allowed will be 1^st tiebreaker. Point Differential will be 2nd. Head-to-head is 3rd tiebreaker. Coin flip will be 4th.

Timing

Games are played on a continuous clock with two 24-minute halves.
Halftime is 2 minutes
Each time the ball is spotted by the referee, a team has 30 seconds to snap the ball. First violation will result in a warning, second violation will be dead ball and loss of down.
Under 1 minute left in each half: the clock stops after a score or change of possession only. Extra points are not timed. Clock starts again once other team snaps the ball to start a possession.
Each team has one 60-second timeout per half. They do not carry over between halves.
Overtime format, when applicable, is as follows: Home team calls the toss to determine the team that chooses to be on offense or defense first. Each team will take turns getting one (1) play from the defense’s 5-yard line for one point or the defense’s 10-yard line for two points. Whether to go for one or two points is up to the offensive team. If the second team on offense in an overtime round fails to beat or match the team that went first, the team that went first wins (NFL style). If the 2nd team ties the 1st, an additional overtime possession can take place. Any required extra overtimes alternate which team has first possession. There are no timeouts during overtime.

Rushing

- The center/snapper cannot accept a handoff (but can still catch passes!).
- The quarterback cannot run forward past the line of scrimmage with the ball unless they hand the ball off and then are the recipient of an additional/2nd handoff or pass prior to crossing the line of scrimmage.
- Only direct hand-offs and pitches/backwards passes are permitted behind the line of scrimmage.
- There is no limit on the number of handoffs that can occur.
- There are no handoffs permitted downfield past the line of scrimmage. Laterals downfield ARE allowed i.e. hook and ladder plays in the interest of allowing some basic “trick” plays to occur. Football is supposed to be fun!
- “No-run zones” are located 5 yards from each end zone and 5 yards on either side of midfield, i.e. no “short-yardage, straight ahead power-running” plays are allowed. EXCEPTION: K-1 Division may run the ball from any location on the field however, K-1 is only allowed to run sweeps outside the hash marks in the “no run” zones. In the interest of keeping drives moving, it may be hard for K-1 to effectively pass/catch so they are allowed to run ball at midfield/near end zone.

Receiving

All players are eligible (and encouraged!) to receive passes (including the quarterback if the ball has previously been handed off behind the line of scrimmage).
As in the NFL, only one player is allowed in motion at a time.
A player must have at least one foot inbounds when making a reception.

Passing

- The quarterback has a 7-second “pass clock.” If a pass is not thrown within the seven seconds, play is dead, loss of down. Once the ball is handed off, the seven-second rule no longer is in effect.
- Quarterbacks can scramble behind the line of scrimmage as needed up to the 7-second limit.
- If the ball is not thrown by the 7-second time, the play is dead at the previous line of scrimmage. Loss of down.
- Quarterback can throw the ball away to avoid the time clock or a sack/rusher. No intentional grounding is called.

Dead Ball

Play is ruled “dead” when:
1. Ball carrier’s flag is pulled
2. Ball carrier steps out of bounds
3. Touchdown or safety occurs.
4. Ball carrier’s knee hits the ground.
5. Ball carrier’s flags fall off.
6. Ball hits the ground/is fumbled while running or shotgun snapping - there are no fumble recoveries. The ball is spotted where the ball hits the ground and the offense retains possession unless it was 4th down.

Scoring

Touchdown: 6 points
Extra point: 1 point (played from 5-yard line) or 2 points (played from 10-yard line). K-1 Note: on 1 point PAT attempt, if rushing the ball, the rush MUST go outside the hash marks (i.e. a sweep); 2 point PAT can be run or pass.
Interception return for TD: 6 points in 2-3-4 Division only. Interceptions are returnable in OT & worth 2 points. No returns on standard extra point attempts. No INT returns in K-1 Division!
Safety: 0 points – ball spotted at the 1yd line and offense retains ball after loss of down.

Defense

The play is dead when a defender pulls the flags from the ballcarrier.
Tackling is obviously not allowed.
Purposeful stripping of the football from a ballcarrier is not allowed.
Interceptions are allowed to be returned for touchdowns on standard plays in regulation time in 2-3-4 Division only (no returns on extra point attempts). For all other non-PAT interceptions not returned, defense will take possession either at their 5yd line (if intercepted prior to midfield) or at midfield if intercepted past it. Interceptions in overtime are returnable & worth 2 points in 2-3-4 Division only. No INT returns for TDs in K-1 Division!

Penalties

Offensive:

Blocking is illegal. First instance is a warning. Thereafter is a dead ball, loss of down & 5yd penalty from previous line of scrimmage.
No flag guarding or stiff-arming. Penalty is 5yds from spot of the foul and loss of down.
Offensive pass interference – Penalty is 10yds from previous line of scrimmage and repeat the down.
Illegal forward pass – Dead ball at spot of the throw.
Illegal motion (multiple players in motion at once) – Loss of down at previous line of scrimmage
Delay of game – Loss of down
Three Touch Rule (see Gameplay section) – Loss of down at previous line of scrimmage.

Defensive:

Offsides/early rush – 5yd penalty and replay the down OR offense has the option to accept the result of the play in the case of a long, completed pass or long run.
Pass interference – 10yd penalty from previous line of scrimmage and repeat the down
Illegal flag pull (pulled flag before receiver had the ball) – 5yds added after the spot of the catch.
Penalties in end zone – offense to replay the down from the 1yd line or accept result of previous play
Tackling – First time is a warning. Repeat/obvious additional tackle moves the ball to midfield or the defense’s 5yd line with automatic first down. 3rd tackle by same defender is 1st down at 2yd line & defender removed from play for remainder of the game to be reviewed by league for possible 1 game suspension.