Catch?

[asdf]

and everyone has a different threshold of "immediate".

You could post a video of this exact play and get differing opinions of catch / no catch.

[jTheUmp]

A decent rule-of-thumb to use for catch/no-catch in a situation like this: could the receiver have pitched the ball to a teammate prior to losing control?

If yes, you have a catch/fumble.

If no, you have an incomplete pass.

[ajmc]

A much more effective "Rule-of-thumb is to allow a professional, impartial and trained arbiter to independently judge what has happened, which is essentially what the written rules of the game include.

Although everyone present at a High School football game is entitled to their opinion, only the judgment of the covering official is accepted as deciding what actually happened. The rule makers were wise enough to understand, and dictate, that anything else would invite absolute chaos.