GHSA: Officials blew late call

[voiceoflg]

http://onlineathens.com/stories/0906...60906022.shtml

The Georgia High School Association (said) the officiating crew blew a call at the end of Friday's 26-23 (Hart County's) loss to Clarke Central, but the result of the game would stand.

Tied 23-all with six seconds remaining and Clarke Central at its 47-yard line, (Clarke Central) Gladiators quarterback Beau Evans completed a 36-yard pass to Darreion Robinson, who was stopped at Hart County's 19. As time expired and just before being tackled, Robinson illegally pitched the ball forward to Mikyle Walker and drew a flag from the side judge. Walker proceeded to scoop the ball forward to Gladiators receiver Josh Hurst, who eventually reached the end zone.

The referees penalized the Gladiators 10 yards, but incorrectly awarded one more play. J.B. Erickson kicked a 46-yard field goal for the win.

The correct ruling is that a game can't end on a defensive penalty. But since the penalty was on the offense, the game should have ended on Robinson's illegal pitch and the result should have been a tie, per non-region contest rule.

In non-region games, coaches must agree on playing overtime before the game. Gladiators coach Leroy Ryals, who won his first game in Georgia, said earlier this week he was unaware of the overtime rule.

Although the result does not affect either team in the region standings, the loss could be a factor for Hart County should the Bulldogs face a tie-breaking situation for a playoff spot coming out of Region 8-AAA.

Comments?

[FootballRef05]

Ill forward handing is 5 yards and loss of down, the game should have been ended. I don't see how they could change the result after the fact, once the referee's declaration that the game has ended it's too late.

[AndrewMcCarthy]

Remember this is the rule change from last year and this is the exact situation why it was changed.

Also note how the article is incorrect when it states "The correct ruling is that a game can't end on a defensive penalty."

[mcrowder]

If memory serves, however, Georgia has (or at least had ... anyone know if they still have...) a protest procedure in football, and incorrect rulings like this one can be (or could be) over turned.

If they do, this seems an ideal case for it.

[The Roamin' Umpire]

An Atlanta coach on the NFHS forum has said that Georgia has gotten rid of their protest procedure.

Seems to me that the GHSA did all it could based on its own policies.

Botching a new rule is a sign that you're not paying attention. Seems to me the members of this crew should be done with varsity contests for the year.

[SouthGARef]

As the user name states, I'm from South GA.

--GHSA did away with "protests" before the start of last season. There is nothing the GHSA can do.

--The GHSA follows the NFHS "untimed down" procedures. So the paper stating that a game cannot end on a defensive penalty is incorrect. I'll email the author if I can find it. However, the game SHOULD have been terminated because the illegal forward pass carries a LOD.

--We've all screwed up before. Unfortunately, these errors are becoming far too common throughout the state. We're required to attend a rules meeting, take a closed book rules test (granted, we haven't taken ours yet), meet with your crew/family at least 10 hours (I think) and take an open book rules and mechanics test with your crew. I just fail to see how you can do all this, and get this rule wrong. Oh well.

[rdfox]

Just having some fun here...

Is it possible that the Robinson-to-Walker illegal pass was incomplete with :01seconds on the clock (the quote did say that Walker "scooped the ball" to another receiver), in which case the clock should have been stopped and not started until the next snap. Granted the 10-yard distance penalty should have been only five.