AA Eastern Final: Southern Columbia 34, West Catholic 19

[ptomaselli]

Listened on the WHLM for a bit. Lots of penalties against WC...not very disciplined.

 

[wcburrs87]

Listened on the WHLM for a bit. Lots of penalties against WC...not very disciplined.

Some were fine. Some not so much. And nothing called on SC. 13-3 against WC. And two on SC were kicking ball out of bounds on kickoff and 12-men on an 2-point try.

With that said, WC didn't play their best game. SC made some big plays in 4th QT when needed. They earned the win.

 

[Football11]

Was there and could not believe the penalties...SC did a great job of holding and never ever getting called...but hey you'd have to be there to believe it!

 

[lilromeo]

Some were fine. Some not so much. And nothing called on SC. 13-3 against WC. And two on SC were kicking ball out of bounds on kickoff and 12-men on an 2-point try.

With that said, WC didn't play their best game. SC made some big plays in 4th QT when needed. They earned the win.

Those penalties were obviously a distinct bias. I had a bad feeling about that going into the game and wham !! there it was . Huck, you are being too nice about this ,but understand your position. I'm disgusted . With that said ,good luck to SC in the finals ,they are not the culprit.

 

[delcofootball1]

So, every time district 12 loses it's the refs fault? Lasalle lost it was because of a bad call. West catholic loses, refs screwed em. So I can expect the same if Imhotep loses this week? Of course we've come to the consensus that the referees are slacking this year but the crying by district 12 about the refs after a loss is becoming ridiculous. The best recruits, I mean team, doesn't always win.

 

[wcburrs87]

I'm typically not a bash the referees guy. In the LS game I didn't think that particular call was a good one, but I wasn't at the game and have no clue how the rest of the game was officiated.

As far as yesterday, I think WC still had opportunities to make plays on both sides of the ball to change the outcome with the infractions descrepancy being what it was. I just think WC got the short end of the whistle. I witnessed at least three holds on WC defenders that were obvious and not called. A chincy illegal shift on RB in motion negated a 48-yard TD pass in the 2nd QT. I didn't notice it, but WC coaches said that on SC go-ahead TD in 4th QT that they had 12 guys on the field. That's interesting because on film it happened vs Berks at same position of the field last week. And they got away with it then, too. SC ran 66 offensive plays and wasn't called for one penalty. 66. And they were good and definitely an organized bunch, but they weren't flawless.

Anyone who has followed me over the years understands that I don't really get into the officiating all that much. Whether it be commentary on this board or in my reports on Ted's site. With that said, at minimum yesterday's officiating was definitely uneven at a minimum.

And if anyone looks at the WC 2015 squad as a team with the "best recruits" really doesn't know what they're looking at. Of the 5 WC teams that reached this point this one had the least amount of depth and overall talent.

 

[Stalker]

Bad officiating can be a bitter pill especially if your team loses. In my view it's part of the game, like a missed tackle or dropped pass causing as much angst if not more. If you hang around this game long enough, the "what ifs" can pile up in towering heaps if you let them. End of the day I'd still rather see the dropped pass-missed tackle than the ref deciding the game.

 

[wcburrs87]

Stalk, one thing I have noticed over all my years is that generally speaking, referees are predisposed to thinking that the predominantly black team is undisciplined, while the predominantly white team is well-coached. West Catholic has had some terrific teams over the last decade. I mean really terrific. Yet, nearly every time they are on the short end of the stick when it comes to judgement penalties (personal fouls, holding, illegal blocks, pass interferences) in big games. And trust me, but I'd be the first one to tell you that they have had their bouts with remaining focused and discipline. And I'm not talking about obvious penalties that the entire stadium could call; like offsides, delays, face masks, etc. I'm talking about the judgement calls. A couple of years ago I had the data to support this theory. It was staggering.

Not pointing at one referee, or one crew, or one district, but from a general sense I think this belief has some validity to it. I'm sure this will upset some, but oh well.

Unfortunately, what we have here is probably just a microcosm of what perceptions are in society. Not good.

 

[pclfan1]

I believe people and teams are predisposed to say something like "if we play well and get a little help from the refs we can do X". The implication is that the black team is for lack of a better word "undisciplined." Hey better today than it was yesterday in sports and society. But when worlds collide like in the Piaa football playoffs you see this come out. Not saying WC didn't deserve the calls. Or that SC at the end didn't outplay them.

 

[shfoot]

One of the problems with the officials is they don't show up for the meetings. A couple of friends are officials and they say about 1/3 of the officials show up and get a couple of the new rules. I brought this up in 2011 for the horse collar rule that wasn't being called on the field. Officials looked at me like I didn't know what I was talking about. They never call a personal foul for hurdling over a player. I've seen head injuries from the DB being knocked backwards.
Hershey is one of the worst. They have so many officials on the field and they're all afraid to make a call on TV.

 

[wcburrs87]

SH, another rule they struggle with is the difference between holding and blocking by WRs. With so many teams going spread offense in recent years this play is more prevalent. A lot of teams throw quickly to WRs at line, while the other two WRs engage DBs. These guys aren't used to this yet and are quick to throw the flag. They need to understand what's a good block and what isn't.

 

[00shoe]

In these games you tend to get the officials who control the chapter or have seniority. The officials at the UD game as a group looked older & a little out of shape. At this level they should be using division I 0r II officials since college seasons have ended. Not likely since who gets these games is a reward to the various chapters. How many state finals has SC been to? maybe the difference is coaching.

 

[Stalker]

Stalk, one thing I have noticed over all my years is that generally speaking, referees are predisposed to thinking that the predominantly black team is undisciplined, while the predominantly white team is well-coached. West Catholic has had some terrific teams over the last decade. I mean really terrific. Yet, nearly every time they are on the short end of the stick when it comes to judgement penalties (personal fouls, holding, illegal blocks, pass interferences) in big games. And trust me, but I'd be the first one to tell you that they have had their bouts with remaining focused and discipline. And I'm not talking about obvious penalties that the entire stadium could call; like offsides, delays, face masks, etc. I'm talking about the judgement calls. A couple of years ago I had the data to support this theory. It was staggering.

Not pointing at one referee, or one crew, or one district, but from a general sense I think this belief has some validity to it. I'm sure this will upset some, but oh well.

Unfortunately, what we have here is probably just a microcosm of what perceptions are in society. Not good.

Very disappointed to hear that Huck. I hope you are wrong of course and that it is more a bias to private schools than racial. Been around the block a few times 'tho and realize their is racism....both ways....but, coming in with preconceived notions about any group has to lead to poor judgment rendered in any and all walks of life, so yes, as you well put a 'microcosm of perceptions'.