Yikes.....
 

It was truly a horrible call, but it was only 2 yards, not 5 (as the announcers were screaming).

A wicked pissah!

Funny...this is still high school football...right?

Correct.

And as luck would have have it (except for this crew), the camera, the commentators, and the lateral were all on the same angle to catch it perfectly. 15 yards one way or the other....they don't see it nearly as well.

Poor call either way and bad positioning.

You can see this crew has alot of hustle. : ^ )

Yes, it appears to be a mistaken call, but the fact that the LOS was midfield and the camera was apparently right on the LOS is about as good a camera angle as possible, and maybe even better than the angle the opposite wing had on the play.

Also, since this game involved Massachusettes High Schools, it's reasonable to presume the game was played under NCAA rules, which govern Massachusetts HS football. I believe the definitions of what differentiates a pass from being forward versus backwards may be somewhat different between the NFHS and NCAA codes.

Perhaps, "It was truly a horrible call" is a little strong for this situation.

I don't know.....ANY level of football, this is a live ball. Youth thru NFL. It was a game changer and took 6 off the board. Just a brain-fart by the WH and the wing(s)....IMO.

I bet they had a rough night the rest of the way. That's how a night can go....flawless and then one hiccup and it's a crap game.

Obviously a missed call but talk about over-reaction by the announcers.

How the ball stayed in-bounds is amazing...

How on earth is that call missed? Why is the wing just standing there?

[never mind; watched it again, and the wing brings the whistle to his mouth and sticks his arm out for i/c]

We get chewed on for stuff that we do right. This is such an easy call that was missed by what appears to be lazy officials. That is unacceptable. These guys need to do something else on Friday nights.

yes, that's a pretty bad call! Since that would be my side of the field, I am not sure how this would happen. Is it possible that the white hat was quick on the whistle. You can't determine if the LJ punched out tentatively or if he signaled incomplete. Either way, I think it's pretty bad!

If you slow it or pause it...it looks like the HL over there puts the whistle in his mouth at the last second and brings up his right arm to start signaling IP.

The sad part in all of it is that by looking at even some of the visiting team's players on the sideline, the players in the game (other than the intended receiver), the verbals from the crowd, and the announcers....the officials here are the only ones who DIDN'T realize this was a lateral and should've been a score.

Now they can say they made the big-time. Ouch.

I'm one who will defend officials when they deserve it, but this was a truly horrible call made by lazy officials. Period.

The reaction of the announcers is over the top, but that's what makes it funny.

It crossed a chalk line. 30 yards either way wouldn't've obscured that!

I'd hoped it was an IW, and not the intended receiver selling incomplete fwd. pass. The wing official signaled "backward". However, the down did advance from 2nd to 3rd, so it must not have been ruled loose ball IW.

That's the signal for incomplete? I thought he was pointing "backward"!

Even really good officials make bad calls. That's possibly the case here. To say they shouldn't be working Fridays after getting this call wrong is pure hyperbole. They did get it wrong though. I put this on the LJ primarily and the HL secondarily. The R is watching the QB and wouldn't be watching where the ball goes. The U and BJ shouldn't be watching the ball either.

One official I know says his primary goal each game is to NOT get on YouTube. He would not have achieved his goal on this night.

I am so looking forward to when I'm able to work my first PERFECT game. Then, perhaps I'll be able to classify other officials as horrible, lazy or lack of hustle and poor positioning on the basis of observing one play. I guess until I actually achieve PERFECTION I'll just have to continue to muddle along doing the best I cam, as often and consistently as possible knowing full well that most likely even my very best effort is going to fall somewhat short of PERFECT.

Like it or not, we can all be judged on one play. I accept that and do my best on every play.

I've seen this on 2 different sites, and both times I see the wing going for and getting his whistle to his mouth and his right arm coming out as his body gets cut off by the camera with his left arm letting go of the whistle and coming out as if he's going to signal with both arms.

If he is pointing backwards....it is even worse mechanics than I first thought. The backward arm signal should happen when the wing sees and realizes the toss/pass, etc...was in fact, a lateral....not after it's bouncing around on the ground. If you look close enough at the wing a few times as the camera pans left, you can see his left arm swinging across to motion, what I believe, was an incomplete pass signal.

Either way...for these guys' sake....I hope it was at the tail end of the contest. We've all had our moments we'd like to forget. These guys just happen to have one that them, and a lot of other people, won't soon forget.

True, there are times when we will be judged by one play, but usually that's by idiots who haven't got the foggiest idea of what they're talking about, or what we actually do.

It really shouldn't be by those who understand the job and the reality that "stuff" happens and all of us are subject to occassional breaks in concentration or our primary focus being diverted to somewhere it shouldn't, for any number of reasons.

We all make mistakes, and all of ou mistakes can be useful as "teaching moments" to others, but those who actually know what they're talking about should be able to keep their comments constructive, and at least away from the really stupid stuff.