In the Illinois Class 7A semifinal last week, Fenwick was leading Plainfield North 10-7, and had the ball on 4th and 15 with 4 seconds left. The Fenwick coach told his quarterback to run around to kill time and then chuck the ball away downfield. Game over, right?
The officials flagged Fenwick for intentional grounding - then erroneously granted Plainfield North an untimed down. Plainfield North used the extra play to kick a field goal to go to overtime, then won the game in OT. If this sounds familiar, nearly the exact same thing happened during the Oklahoma State-Central Michigan game in September (where Central Michigan used the play mistakenly given to them to throw a Hail Mary to win the game) - which makes it quite astounding football officials could repeat the exact same misapplication of the rules when that game made headlines just a couple of months ago.
The Illinois high school athletic rules say game officials' decisions are final and not subject to appeal, so even after admitting the mistake and saying Plainfield North should not have had the opportunity to kick the tying field goal, the game result would stand and Plainfield North moves on to the state championship against East St. Louis.
Fenwick has taken this to court. This morning, apparently, a judge is hearing their plea to overturn the outcome of the game and put Fenwick into the championship. I haven't seen the result at this moment - my gut feeling is that the judge will tell Fenwick the state association has their rules, they followed them (decision is final, no protest allowed), and that's just the way things are. I'm not a judge, though, so who knows.
What do you all think is the best outcome here? Should Plainfield North offer to forfeit, knowing their win was tainted by the officials' screwup? Should Fenwick just accept the result, even though it's obvious the correct application of the rule means they would have won?
On Mike and Mike this morning they did refer to a 1940 game between Cornell and Dartmouth, which Cornell won thanks to a "fifth down" mistakenly given to them. Once Cornell realized the error while reviewing game film, they actually offered a forfeit to Dartmouth, who accepted - and that ended an 18-game winning streak by Cornell. On the other hand, the final scores of the "fifth down" game between Missouri and Colorado a couple of decades ago, and the OSU-CMU game earlier this year, still stand.
What's the thing to do? Besides go to court, I mean. I don't think adjudicating the outcome of sporting events in court is ever a good idea - but is the better path to admit you won unfairly and give up the victory, or accept the final outcome as determined by the state association even though you know the rules say you should have won?
(On another point, I think coaches are too reluctant to give up points, even when it can win them the game. Run backwards out of the back of the end zone - that would run out the clock and you win 10-9.)
The officials flagged Fenwick for intentional grounding - then erroneously granted Plainfield North an untimed down. Plainfield North used the extra play to kick a field goal to go to overtime, then won the game in OT. If this sounds familiar, nearly the exact same thing happened during the Oklahoma State-Central Michigan game in September (where Central Michigan used the play mistakenly given to them to throw a Hail Mary to win the game) - which makes it quite astounding football officials could repeat the exact same misapplication of the rules when that game made headlines just a couple of months ago.
The Illinois high school athletic rules say game officials' decisions are final and not subject to appeal, so even after admitting the mistake and saying Plainfield North should not have had the opportunity to kick the tying field goal, the game result would stand and Plainfield North moves on to the state championship against East St. Louis.
Fenwick has taken this to court. This morning, apparently, a judge is hearing their plea to overturn the outcome of the game and put Fenwick into the championship. I haven't seen the result at this moment - my gut feeling is that the judge will tell Fenwick the state association has their rules, they followed them (decision is final, no protest allowed), and that's just the way things are. I'm not a judge, though, so who knows.
What do you all think is the best outcome here? Should Plainfield North offer to forfeit, knowing their win was tainted by the officials' screwup? Should Fenwick just accept the result, even though it's obvious the correct application of the rule means they would have won?
On Mike and Mike this morning they did refer to a 1940 game between Cornell and Dartmouth, which Cornell won thanks to a "fifth down" mistakenly given to them. Once Cornell realized the error while reviewing game film, they actually offered a forfeit to Dartmouth, who accepted - and that ended an 18-game winning streak by Cornell. On the other hand, the final scores of the "fifth down" game between Missouri and Colorado a couple of decades ago, and the OSU-CMU game earlier this year, still stand.
What's the thing to do? Besides go to court, I mean. I don't think adjudicating the outcome of sporting events in court is ever a good idea - but is the better path to admit you won unfairly and give up the victory, or accept the final outcome as determined by the state association even though you know the rules say you should have won?
(On another point, I think coaches are too reluctant to give up points, even when it can win them the game. Run backwards out of the back of the end zone - that would run out the clock and you win 10-9.)
