I was at a local game down in Georgia last night and witnessed something I have never seen.

 

Let me set the stage, Georgia 1A-Private Semi-Finals, #1 Athens Academy vs. #4 Prince Avenue Christian at Athens Academy.

 

Athens Academy is a very affluent private school and they utilize a video screen with live video and replay capability.

 

Athens Academy is leading 14-7 with Prince Avenue possessing the ball with over a minute before the Half. Athens Academy is set to receive the 2nd Half kickoff.

 

Prince Avenue puts an impressive drive together. On 1st and 10 a blatant Defensive PI is missed but the DB drops an INT after shoving the WR out of the play. The very next play Prince Avenue's future All-American QB hits their Senior WR committed to Army for a nice gain, the WR fights for extra yardage and fumbles the ball. Just so we are clear, it was definitely a fumble.

 

The Officials confirm and rule that he was down by contact. They spot the ball and wind the clock.

 

Prince Avenue gets to the line of scrimmage and signals in their play. The Athens Academy Coach runs to the sideline officials and calls a Timeout.

 

The Athens Academy Coach immediately starts making his case to the officials. All the while the video screen is showing slow motion views of the play over and over. The timeout extends well beyond the normal limits, I would argue it was probably three times the length of a normal timeout. After the Officials signal for play to resume they then run to the other sideline and announce that they have chosen to reverse the call on the field and rule it Athens Academy football.

 

Athens Academy kneels the Half out and scores on the ensuing possession of the 2nd Half to take a 21-7 lead and go on to win 28-21.

 

So what is your take on the situation?

- It was very clear that the initial call on the field was incorrect, but the call was made after conferring and the ball spotted.

- The Officials clearly changed their decision after watching a video replay on the video screen. Something that would not have been available if the game was played at any other stadium in the classification.

- The grossly extended timeout which was allowed definitely lent itself for the decision to be changed

 

Do you believe in making the right call regardless of the circumstances?

Do you believe officials should have the luxury of looking at video replay on a videoboard if the luxury is afforded?

If a coach is making an argument to overturn a call do you believe it has to be done within the confines of a normal timeout's length?

The replay should of never been taken into account. Officials get things wrong. Everyone lives with it. Using the video I would say is against the rules.

 

I don’t have a problem with the long time out while pleading your case.

These type video boards are going to make their way down to the high school level more and more. And the ability to do 'instant replay' on them will make a rough job (high school football official) even rougher.

 

They should not be used for actual decision making by officials. And to prevent that, associations are going to need to put in policies that may include no replay of the last play inside the stadium.