Devils didn't get their due
By Staff
FCT Sports writer, Mike Self
In the grand scheme of things, the outcome of a high school football game is largely a trivial matter. There are far more important things to worry about.
With everything that goes on in the world today, I hesitate to refer to an official's mistake, no matter how egregious, as an "injustice." Strong words like that should not be used lightly.
That being said, what I witnessed (and what I heard) at the Vina/Hazlewood game last Friday was an affront to my sense of right and wrong and to my expectation of fair play. In other words, it really sticks in my craw.
For those of you who aren't familiar with what transpired, allow me to summarize. Vina was leading 22-19 late in the fourth quarter when Hazlewood attempted a "hook-and-lateral," a trick play on which a receiver runs a "hook" pattern before catching a pass and then "lateraling" the ball to a teammate streaking by.
The play worked, and the Golden Bears scored the winning touchdown to clinch a playoff spot and shatter the Red Devils' hopes for postseason play.
But here's the problem. The lateral pitch on the winning play was no lateral at all. The initial receiver clearly pitched the ball forward, which would constitute an illegal forward pass and negate the touchdown. At least that's what should have happened.
But it didn't. Despite impassioned protests from the Vina sideline, the officiating crew allowed the bogus touchdown to stand. Hazlewood celebrated, and the Red Devils were left feeling like they had just been kicked in the stomach.
To add insult to injury, the head official said the following in his explanation to Vina coach Bill Smith immediately after the disputed touchdown: "You can pitch it forward as long as you pitch it underhanded."
Come again? On what planet? This is football, not ultimate frisbee. One forward pass per play, that's it. I don't care if it's overhanded, underhanded, no-handed or tossed like a stinkin' horseshoe.
The official's "explanation" only served to escalate the situation. Smith, understandably, continued to argue and was ultimately ejected from the game.
In the locker room afterwards, he was faced with the unenviable task of explaining to his heartbroken players how the playoff berth they had worked so hard to secure had suddenly and unfairly been snatched away right before their disbelieving eyes.
"I had no idea what to say to those kids," Smith said on Monday. "I couldn't even look them in the eye. They played well enough to win the game, and then it was taken from them. I know we're never supposed to say that the officials cost us a game, but this time they did. They stole it from us. And our kids deserve better than that."
To his credit, Smith did acknowlege that the blown call was not the sole contributor to Vina's downfall.
"We had a chance to put them away on the drive right before that [the Devils were stopped on downs at the Hazlewood 12-yard line], but we didn't do it," he said. "Still, our defense had risen to the occasion and stopped them several times during the game. All we had to do was do it one more time. But we didn't get that chance."
Vina assistant coach Greg Hamilton said on Monday that a review of the controversial play on film shows the disputed pitch going forward four yards. Smith express-mailed a copy of the game tape to the AHSAA's central office in Montgomery Saturday morning.
Dan Washburn, executive director of the AHSAA, said Tuesday morning that he had looked at the tape and that it was "indecisive."
"You can't tell if the ball was tipped or not," Washburn said. "We're not through looking at it yet. But the outcome of the game has been decided. It's over."
Washburn did say that, if indeed the head official made such a comment during his explanation to Smith, that it would be "terribly, terribly wrong."
Washburn declined to discuss any consequences the officiating crew might face, though he did say suspensions were a possibility if further scrutiny of the matter deemed them necessary.
Punishing the officiating crew won't put Vina in the playoffs, but those referees must be held accountable. Whether they were afraid to call back the touchdown in front of a hostile Hazlewood crowd or simply ignorant of one of the most basic rules in the game, they blew it. It was a crucial call that determined the postseason fates of two teams, and they flat-out blew it.
The head official, based on his explanation, is the most culpable, but the entire crew is responsible for making every effort possible to see that the right call is made.
The real shame of this matter, of course, lies in the fact that the Red Devils will be sitting at home next week when the playoffs begin. Vina has its best team in recent memory this year, and a possible playoff berth has been the talk of the town throughout the year.
A trip to the postseason would have meant so much to the Red Devil players, particularly the team's four seniors, Kerry Lawler, Shannon Ozbirn, Gary Taylor and Ryan Umfress. Lawler, Taylor and Umfress have been varsity starters since the eighth grade, and they've endured more than their share of hardships and losing.
They earned the right to end their careers with a trip to the state playoffs. Then it was taken from them.
And that's just not right.
Smith has received words of encouragment from many people, including Hazlewood principal Johnny Yates and R.A. Hubbard coach Lymos McDonald, who watched the game from the stands.
McDonald called Smith and told him that somebody owes him an apology.
That somebody is the AHSAA.
Sanctioning the officials and issuing a formal apology to the Vina program won't mend the broken hearts of the Red Devil players. Only time will heal those wounds.
The issue now is accountability. The AHSAA must step forward and accept responsibility for what happened. Anything less would constitue another blown call.
