Instant replay in high school football made its debut in Georgia Saturday.
And in what is likely to be seen as a positive development for coaches, players, fans and the GHSA, it caused minimal delays and had no impact on the outcome of the four games played in the Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The GHSA acted quickly to adopt the use of replay reviews in the aftermath of last season’s Class 3A championship game between Sandy Creek and Cedar Grove. The controversy came when Sandy Creek scored what was ruled as the winning touchdown in its 21-17 victory on a 1-yard run on third down with 50 seconds left despite television replays showing that the runner was stopped about a yard short of the end zone.
Cedar Grove was seeking its second consecutive state title and fifth in seven seasons.
Replay ultimately will be used only in the state championship games for football, but it was used on an experimental basis Saturday at Mercedes-Benz, where this year’s championship games will be played Dec. 11-13.
Georgia is one of about 20 states nationwide that have approved instant replay in some form.
Marietta’s Richard Morgan became the first head coach to call for a review when he challenged a call that one of his receivers fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Norcross, early in the fourth quarter of Norcross’s 45-23 victory. Morgan lost the challenge.
“Anytime you can get confirmation that the call is right or a call gets changed, I think it’s great,” Morgan said. “We thought he didn’t have control of the ball, so it wasn’t a fumble, so I challenged it and obviously the replay said he did catch it. That’s the way it is.”
There were booth reviews of scoring plays throughout the day, but the first stoppage of play for a review in Georgia high school history came with 7:34 to play in the third quarter of the Norcross-Marietta game. It was an official’s review, not a coach’s challenge, of a play in which Norcross runner Alex Garnett fumbled at the Marietta 1-yard line and the ball rolled to the goal line, where Kevin Maven-Winchester fell on it. The play was ruled a touchdown by Maven-Winchester, and the call was confirmed.
“I was going to throw [the challenge flag] on that touchdown if they didn’t review it, but I didn’t have to,” Norcross coach Keith Maloof said. “I didn’t need to, but I wanted to.”
Action was halted for replay just once in the second game, McEachern vs. Brookwood, to review whether McEachern’s quarterback made it into the end zone on a play from the 2-yard line. On-field officials ruled that the runner was short, and replay confirmed the call.
“There was a couple of times where I was going to throw [the challenge flag], but the calls ended up going our way anyway,” Brookwood coach Philip Jones said.
One on-field call that was overturned by replay came in the final game of the night, when an apparent Walton touchdown was reviewed. After the play was called a touchdown on the field, the score was taken off the board and the ball was marked at the Grayson 1-yard line. Walton scored on the next play, however, in its 49-27 victory.
About the Author
