The Ohio High School Athletic Association and the refs who worked the Walsh Jesuit vs. Louisville (OH) game last Friday night are under heat for a pivotal late-game decision.
Louisville had just scored what appeared to be a game-winning touchdown with just over a minute left in the fourth quarter to go up 26-24. Two Louisville players pointed to the sky after the score, an act meant to honor and pay memory to a teammate who died in an accident a few days before the contest. The ref threw a flag, handing Louisville an “excessive celebration” penalty and Walsh Jesuit a short field to work with. Walsh would kick a last-second field goal to win the game, 27-26.
Coaches, players, family, and a ton of people who never watched the game were in an uproar about the penalty. This was no Chad OchoCinco popcorn celebration, not a dance, not an insult to the opponents. Just a simple, solemn moment.
This article appears in Aug 31 – Sep 6, 2011.
Though I am not from Ohio after watching this video in my personal opinion I DO NOT think this ref made a great call at all. All the players did was point up to the sky after scoring a touchdown. That ref should NOT have made that stupid call. Nor should he have given the coach a penalty for trying to explain why the players did what they did. To me that shows that when a coach tries to offer an explanation to a ref and he penalizes him he obviously DOES NOT CARE WHY THEY DID WHAT THEY DID and to me thats just F’ed Up.