MHSTigerFan

Yeah, I got that - and totally appreciate the difference. A bad call is one the officials should’ve gotten and simply didn’t. This wasn’t one of those plays. You, an experienced official, had to read up on the specific text of the relevant rules and watch/rewatch the play in order to analyze it. The ref here had to make his call right away without any such benefit. I think a lot of fans don’t fully appreciate the difficulty of that. And most of us come with a strong bias. They just want to get it right and some calls just aren’t simple or black/white. As I said with my first comment, I can see why he made the call he did. Thankfully for everybody, it wasn’t decisive in the game. BTW, I should add that we’re really lucky to have you posting here. GID is a much better place because you’re here. You bring knowledge, experience, and insights on the rules and how they apply to specific plays that nobody else really can. Thank you!

Fantastic stuff! Thanks for taking the time to research this and analyze it. Very tough call to make in real time, without video, etc.

I’d be interested to hear @Bobref opinion on this. It looked to me like he intended to hang onto the ball and run with it - but the ball slipped out of his hand with the forward motion. Is all that matters the forward motion of the passer’s arm?

Yeah I watched the slo-mo. Ellspermann’s movements after he finished the motion where the ball came out looked at least a little bit like somebody planning to hold the ball and run rather than finishing a pass. Again, it’s hard to tell. I’m not saying I’m 100% sure. I’m just saying I can see why they said he was trying to tuck it.

It’s hard to tell. But I can see why they would think it was a failed tuck.

Congrats to Vince!

On the scale of supposedly offensive mascots, Rebels seems awfully tame. And “Royals” is embarrassingly bad, to boot. I sure am glad Archbishop Thompson (whom I personally know, BTW…he was briefly our Bishop in Evansville) has his priorities in order. And that’s all I’ll say about it. People can read between the lines of that deliberately cryptic statement what they will. They should’ve called themselves “Roncalli Football Team” just to be appropriately flippant. I have no love for Dan Snyder. But I saluted that he did that when the NFL forced him to surrender the R word. You want me to change our name? Fine…we’re the Washington Football Team.

Wait, what happened to the Rebels? Don’t tell me…

I realize coaches and ADs have little control over what overzealous parents do. But, if I was a coach, one of the first things I would do is assign an assistant to get every player’s social media accounts, follow them, and let them know that the coaches will be aware of everything they post on social media. I’ve seen firsthand some things put out there by players that, if I was their coach, would have them watching at least a game or two from the stands.

Has it always been this way, Bobref? It’s no secret there’s a shortage of officials - in football and other sports. Are things like this one of the reasons why? I know skirmishes are nothing new on the gridiron. It just seems like there more incidents that go beyond pushing and shoving. Just such a shame.

Makes perfect sense. Football is the ultimate team sport. And great teams are usually greater than the sum of their parts. Talent is never unimportant. But talent without the right chemistry, culture, and leadership will usually underperform.

Yeah, not "scared" so much. I mean, I would hope that HS football players on high quality teams wouldn't fear any opponent. But, let's face it, sometimes teams are performing at a very high level. I would've said that about our 2018 team -- which was still in 3A and lost to WL in the finals. Bully for them for beating us. But I still believe that, had we had our starting CB, that game would've turned out differently. They knew he was out and successfully went deep against his replacement twice in the opening minutes of the game. Talk about a punch in the mouth. Even then, we still came back and had a chance to win the game. I love the way the Tigers are playing right now -- especially on defense. And I definitely think we could give GS a challenge. But they're a buzzsaw right now.

I'm (obviously) a Memorial homer. But I think it's very likely that being in 4A in 2019 got us a state championship we wouldn't have gotten in 3A. Heritage Hills had a solid team that year and their state finals game against Chatard was a complete mismatch. I don't see how we could've beaten that Chatard team...despite the fact we'd beaten them the year prior. IMO, we weren't as good as we were in 2018...and Chatard was by most accounts better. Also, I love playing GS -- Nick Hart has put together an elite football program. But I wouldn't want to be standing in their way right now....I have to admit. I know that Allen gets all the attention and headlines, deservedly so. But their defense has been spectacular too. If anybody in 3A is able to beat them, my hat's off to them. I think this is their year.

This is a pretty good place. https://rzcafeandcatering.com Unfortunately, the legendary Gemeca Inn burned down a few years ago and was never rebuilt. Shame, they served a helluva steak for a little dive in Ft. Branch, IN.

That’s an incredible feat against a quality offense. It would be one thing to hold a bad team to that much yardage. But a ranked 9-1 team that pumped out 30+ a game? I’m tellin ya…Ben Johnson. Not to take anything away from the players. They have to execute on the field. But it all starts with a great DC. And he is.

I feel for the officials in games that get so overheated. Tough balance - because I’m sure they don’t want to look like they have an itchy trigger finger. Officials hate the idea of affecting the outcome of a game…especially a tournament game. But I’m with you on the early intervention. Maybe the IHSAA should give them an intermediate tool between a verbal warning and disqualification…like a 1 quarter or time-based suspension. Give them some time to cool off and the distinct feeling of consequences.

How sad and infuriating. Kids need to be taught how to manage their emotions - and how important dignity is…whether in victory or defeat (because life will bring plenty of both).

I’m curious how much total yardage NV gained before that last drive against JV. Memorial’s D showed up to play. Hope Xavier is OK.

I’m not much into explaining away losing performances. An L is an L. But those who are would probably say that MHS was missing key starters (Shea and Agler, plus Brody to early injury) against Jasper and that the Castle loss had a lot to do with weather-related TOs…a couple of which resulted in very favorable field position for the Knights. But, then, bad weather affects both teams.

Yeah, me too. But just because a team wasn’t all that great last year doesn’t mean they haven’t improved a lot. That’s not uncommon in HS football. And it’s hard to tell from a regular season, because the levels of competition aren’t always on parity. Jasper had an awfully good team. So chances are that it wasn’t a fluke.

Yeah, Ben Johnson is the best kept secret in SW Indiana football. He’s a master defensive tactician.

I guess we’ll see. On the other hand, Bosse just curb-stomped Corydon. Jasper turned the ball over 5 times. I didn’t see them, of course. So I have no idea if those were more errors on Jasper’s part or more strong D on NV’s part. But there’s a reason they play the games. And we’ll get to see how they do against Reitz next week.

I don’t disagree. But that particular sectional is the exception and not the rule. Sectional 32 usually has a couple good teams in it. But it hasn’t produced too many state championships.

It’s 50% in terms of the number of games, yes. But that’s really about it. Since all teams make the sectional field, the load to bear in the early games tends to be pretty light for the good teams (depending, of course, on the draw….since it’s a blind draw). GS really should have no difficulty winning Sectional 32. Personally, I think they have a really good shot at going all the way. And I noticed that JH has them as one of the small handful of teams with a >40% chance to do just that. CG, Cathedral, and Indy Lutheran are the others.

One of the best things about most HS stadiums getting turf is that mud-bowls are an increasingly rare thing. Glancing at the forecast, they're calling for thunderstorms on Friday evening. Maybe we'll see some/all area games moved to Saturday due to lightning?