[Jim S]

OK, I just got off the phone with one of the guys from the NC State Association.
It just didn't happen.
THe guy I talked to was on the sideline (Western Alamance side), knew it was going to happen, and saw the whole thing.
It wasn't a trick play.
What happened was that Asheville ran a play near their own sideline. After the play ended they made a one for one substitution immediately. The team (all 11) then went to the hash and made a huddle. After the RFP one of the players then left the huddle, went towards the sideline and set up in a normal stance. He made no other motions or actions like he was leaving the field. The rest of the team THEN took their normal positions. The Western Allimance players did not see the player.
The gentleman I talked to said that he was watching to see if anyone on the Asheville sideline did ANYTHING to beckon the player, or in any other way make an attempt to deceive the defense. He said NOTHING like this happened.
He also said the Western Allimance coaching staff saw the "loose" player and was attempting to get their players to cover him when the ball was snapped.
I asked WHY the 'notification' to the officials? The answer was that they just wasnted to make sure that there was no question that the official saw that the substitution, and the subsequent action, was legal. (Not a bad choice.)
So it would appear that the "play" (it really wasn't a play at all) was legal. The problem lay in the description by the press (We all know how completely accurate that is.... about like rules statements from the talking heads!)
The only real question is ... Why didn't the Western Allimance HC call a time-out????