Helena Small Fry Junior Division (5th and 6th) Rules

All games across all levels are 11v11. All games shall be governed by current year official football rules as adopted by the National Federation of High School Associations (NFHS), with the following exceptions:

GAME AND PLAY CLOCK:

15-minute quarters, 1-minute between quarters, and a 10-minute halftime. The clock will continually run and will only stop for timeouts, injuries, after the extra point try, and the last two minutes of the first half and the last two minutes of the second half if the score of the contest is within 13 points.

Each team is entitled to 3 one-minute timeouts per half. The clock restarts on the snap following any team time out if within the final two minutes criteria above. If outside the final two minutes of each half, the clock will resume once the ball has been spotted. Time outs do not carry over into the second half or overtime(s). The head coach is responsible for keeping track of time outs. Calling for a time out and not having one available will result in a delay of game penalty and the team is not awarded the time out.

Dead balls that stop the clock within the final two minutes are: incomplete passes, any play that ends out of bounds, scoring plays, change of possession, timeouts. The clock will also stop for all injury timeouts and official timeouts, restarting at the head officials ready to play signal. Penalty clock stoppages are held in accordance with NFHS guidelines. The clock is also stopped for the entirety of extra point tries within the final two minutes.

If a team is losing by more than 13 points within the final two minutes, the clock does not stop for any reason other than timeouts, injury timeouts and official timeouts. If the losing team scores to create a deficit of 13 or fewer, clock stoppage criteria apply.

GAMEPLAY:

There are no kickoffs except with 2 minutes left in the 4th quarter and the score is 13 points or less.

Play starts at the offensive team’s 20-yard line on possessions starting each half and after scores.

PUNT:

There are no punts in the Junior League Divisions. A team is to declare that they either go for it on 4th down or the would wish to punt. In an instance where the team elects to punt, the officials will move the ball 30 yards. The ball may not be any closer to the goal line than the 30 yard line, so for example if the offensive team elects to punt from the opposing 30, the ball would be placed at the 10. If a team elects to punt from their own 10, the ball would be placed at midfield.

GAME RULES REVISIONS:

There are no kickoffs except with 2 minutes left in the 4th quarter and the score is 13 points or less. At least four players on the kicking team must be on each side of the kicker. No Kicking team players, except for the kicker, may be more than five yards behind the kicking team’s free-kick line. No Motion and no shifting is allowed

Play starts at the offensive team’s 20-yard line on possessions starting each half and after scores.

There is no motion or unbalanced lines in the Junior Divisions and offensive lines must maintain normal line splits of no more than arm’s length apart.

Pass Interference, Face Mask, Targeting, (defensive clip/cut) is an automatic first down.

GAME BALL:

Game balls used in the Junior League are Junior or Size 7 footballs.

CUT BLOCKS:

There are no cut blocks allowed in any circumstance.