The Indiana High School Athletic Association announced this week that starting with the new fall season, high school football in the state will have a new mercy rule. The rule will kick in when the point difference between two competing teams reaches 35 points in the second half. When that occurs, the game clock will convert to a running clock with the exception of timeouts. Illinois high school football has a similar rule with the only difference being that the continuous clock starts with a 40 point second half deficit.