Some coaches are outraged that linemen are no longer limited to one low block after the snap.

The old rule limited blocking below the waist to "the initial charge," or first block of the down, but that phrase has been eliminated by the National Federation Football Rules Committee .

The most haunting scenario for coaches such as Farrington's Skippa Diaz is of an upright defensive lineman on a pass rush being crumpled by a cut-block behind the knees.

It's probably the most hotly debated rule change handed down in 1996 because it concerns safety.

"We're making it legal to rip the knee out like a chicken wing," said a visibly angry Diaz.

"If coaches use this rule to its full advantage, I guarantee that the amount of broken knees will soar."

There was little danger under the "initial charge" rule because the man lined up across from the offensive lineman was in a low stance.

But now, an offensive lineman may "set up" the defender, as Diaz put it. On a pass play, the guard might decide to let the defender get by him at the snap, and then, as the defender stands erect, cut him from behind at the knees.

As long as the cut takes place within the "free blocking zone" - an area that extends four yards to the left and right of center, and three yards behind each line of scrimmage - it is legal.

Nor will the offensive lineman who pulls and blocks low beyond the ball get called unless he's outside the 6x8 zone.

"We will see an increase in ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injuries with that," said Punahou athletic trainer Glenn Beachy. "They (federation) are putting the athlete at more risk.

"The rotational force of a block from the back side, when the defender's foot is planted in the turf, can be debilitating," Beachy said.

"No brace in the world will protect that, except a custom-made $700 brace. But most programs can't afford that."

Beachy said that low blocks from the side of the legs could cause damage to the medial collateral ligament and cartilage.

To point out the damage potential of a low block, the Buffanblu trainer recalled a 1993 ILH incident. Notre Dame defensive lineman Jason Ching, then a Punahou sophomore, had two of the three ankle bones just above his joint fractured when a Kamehameha tackle rolled on his ankle during a sweep play.

Glenn Young, an official for the Oahu Interscholastic Association, said the federation relaxed the low blocking rule to conform with a rule that allows blocking below the waist on trap blocks.

"As an official, I am not in favor, but it's in the rules.

"But it all goes back to one thing. You've got to coach it. If you don't, it's not a problem."

Young said he has refereed four or five games this season and he has yet to see anybody take advantage of the low block against a standing defender.

"And none of the coaches has told me he's going to coach it," Young said.

But Cal Lee, head coach of 10-time defending Interscholastic League of Honolulu and Prep Bowl champion St. Louis, indicated he will.

"It's legal," he said. "We have to be aware of it and be sure we know what's going on. We have to teach kids what they can and can't do."

But Lee said he doesn't like the rule either.

"I don't like it because there's danger of knee injuries when you can block below the waist," he said. "Any time you block and hit something that's in a hinge (such as a knee), something has to give."

Lee said his defensive linemen now have to go through drills on how to protect their lower extremities.

"Their hands have to be down lower - they can't come up from a stance high," Lee said. "They have to be moving around, not standing around."

Leilehua High athletic director Richard Townsend, who is the OIA's football coordinator, said the danger of the cut block might influence the coaching of defensive linemen.

"It's going to make some coaches say, 'I can't let my defensive linemen go full bore,' " Townsend said.

Waipahu High head coach Sam Delos Reyes said it is hard to tell the difference between a cut block and the even more dangerous sweep of the legs. Delos Reyes said he fears sweeps could insidiously weave their way into the blocking game.

"This rule is very negligent to the safety of every prep football player on this planet," Farrington's Diaz said.

But ILH official Hardy Spoehr is not alarmed about the rule change.

He said it is not really much different from what players were allowed to do before. Spoehr said that a player was always able to maneuver into position to administer a cut-block from behind, as long as it was his first block of the down.

He also pointed out that once a quarterback drops back after the snap, the 6x8 zone quickly disintegrates and low blocks become illegal. In a shotgun formation, the free blocking zone is a moot point.

Furthermore, he said offensive linemen have precious little time to set up vicious low back-blocks before the ball leaves the small zone.

Some have asked why Hawaii's leagues did not pass on the federation rule and stick with the old rule, which only allowed low blocking on the "initial charge."

A spokesperson for the National Federation of State High School Associations in Kansas City, Mo., said that any state association that ignores a federation rule will lose its vote on the national policy making committee.