THE 3 MINUTE RULE

Officials will stop the clock and advise teams of the three minute rule after 17 or 12 minutes have elapsed in regulation 20 or 15 min. quarter games respectively. This will occur during dead ball time between plays, in the second and fourth quarters. With the three minute warning given, the clock will start after the play is whistled in. During these three minutes, the clock will run but time will be stopped in the following situations:

PENALTY APPLICATION - clock starts when Referee blows the whistle to signal the offence to begin their 20 second huddle time count.

TEAM TIME-OUT - clock will start on the snap of the ball on the subsequent play.

AFTER A TOUCHDOWN IS SCORED - clock will start when any on-field player touches the ball after the kick off. The clock shall stop when the receiving team is touched by the kicking team (or when the receiving team downs the ball). The clock will start again when the play is whistled in. If the ball goes out of bounds on the kick off without being touched, the clock will start when the play is whistled in on the subsequent play or, if it is re-kicked, refer to above kick-off. If the ball hits the goal post without being touched by a player, the clock will start on the snap of the ball on the subsequent play.

AFTER A SAFETY TOUCH IS SCORED - if the subsequent play is a kick off, the above rules for kick offs apply. If the subsequent play is a scrimmage play, the clock will start on the snap of the ball.

AFTER A ROUGE IS SCORED - clock will start on the snap of the ball on the subsequent play.

TIME COUNT VIOLATION - clock will start on the snap of the ball on the subsequent play.

INJURY - the non-injured team will have the option to start the clock on the snap of the ball on the subsequent play or run ten seconds off the clock then start the clock on the snap of the ball. If there are less than (10) seconds to play, at least (1) play will remain.

ON CHANGE OF POSSESSION - If no score has occurred, the clock will start when the play is whistled in on next play from scrimmage.

1) Punt - clock shall stop when the receiving team is touched or when the ball is downed. The clock will start when the play is whistled in.
2) Interception - clock will stop when the interceptor is touched or downs the ball. Clock starts when the play is whistled in.
3) Loss of Downs - clock will stop with the whistle and yards not gained on third down. Clock starts when play is whistled in.
4) If (2) or more changes of possession occur during the play so that team "A" is in possession, at the conclusion of the play, the referee shall ignore the changes of possession for the purpose of applying the 3-minute rule.

In addition, the Rules Committee has added an additional 20-second timeout for each team, which may be used at any time during the game. This is in addition to the one (1) minute timeout per half which already exists.