Parents and students at a suburban high school are up in arms after a controversial call put an end to the football team’s season.
Fenwick High School was up 10-7 on Plainfield North in the Class 7A semifinals Saturday night when the team’s quarterback threw the ball incomplete on the fourth down looking to run out the clock.
The rules should say game over, giving Fenwick the win, but instead the referee mistakenly called a grounding penalty that allowed Plainfield North one free play. Plainfield North ended up being able to use the play to tie the game with a field goal, and went on to win in overtime.
The Illinois High School Association admitted the ref made a mistake and should not have given Plainfield north that free play, but they also say they cannot change the outcome.
IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson, in a statement admitting the error, cited a by-law that rules “the decisions of game officials shall be final; protests against the decision of a game official shall not be reviewed by the Board of Directors.”
“On behalf of IHSA, I express my sincerest apologies to Coach Nudo and his players and coaching staff, as well as to the entire Fenwick administration and community,” Anderson said. “I understand that it will be difficult to find the silver lining in this particular situation, but I do hope that Fenwick takes pride in all they accomplished today and this season.”
Anderson added that the crew admitted the error after the game and will face a performance assessment and consequences from IHSA.
Fenwick quarterback Jacob Keller later tweeted, “your sincerest apologies mean nothing, my boys WORKED for 5 months just to have everything we worked for taken away. #IHSASUCKS.”
