2019 rule changes for high school football

(Darryl Richardelle is an 18-year veteran high school football official here in Louisiana, freelance writer, and occasional contributor to the Abbeville Meridional.)
The 2019 high school football season will feature rules changes noticeable to fans. A 40-second play clock and redefined requirements for a legal scrimmage formation are among the most significant.

40-second Play Clock
Like college football and the NFL, offenses will now have 40 seconds to snap the ball. When the ball becomes dead following a scrimmage play (1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th down), 40 seconds will be placed onto the play clock (even when a first down is attained by the offense). The offense will have to snap the ball prior to the expiration of this time or face a 5-yard, delay of game penalty.
25 seconds will still be placed onto the play clock for the following situations:
• Following a change of possession
• Before extra points
• Before the first play of a quarter or overtime series
• Charged & officials’ timeouts
• Stoppage of the play clock for any reason
This change was made to gain consistency in dead ball intervals throughout high school football.

Legal Scrimmage Formations

Legal scrimmage formations will no longer require seven players on the line of scrimmage. Legal scrimmage formations may now consist of a minimum of five players on the line, provided there are no more than four in the backfield.
5+4=9. Isn’t football played with eleven players on each side?
Here’s an explanation:
If an offensive team has eleven players on the field, then yes, the old rule is basically still in effect. To avoid having more than four in the backfield, there must still be seven on the line of scrimmage.
Here’s where the new rule kicks in. If an offensive team, for some reason, ends up with fewer than eleven on the field, they will not be penalized for an illegal formation provided there are four or fewer players in the backfield. In the past, if a team lined up with six up front and four in the back, it would be a penalty for not having seven on the line of scrimmage. Beginning this year, that will no longer be a penalty.
Another rule change which will be less noticeable to fans is that it is no longer legal to trip the ball carrier with the lower leg or foot. This change was made in order to reduce the number of lower leg and foot injuries.
Also, by state association adoption, the use of video review will be allowed for postseason contests. Details for this rule change are still being worked out, but test runs will be made at various sites around Louisiana during jamborees.
All rules for high school football are administered by the National Federation of State High School Associations, the governing body of interscholastic athletics throughout the United States.