Referees Disallow Field Goal Try at End So PV Edges Rolling Hills, 7-6 : Preps: Confusion on the field has Sea Kings’ quarterback and his coaches in an uproar until the officials declared the game over.
Like all of his teammates, Palos Verdes High quarterback Blake Anderson was momentarily stunned Thursday when it appeared that Rolling Hills would be allowed to try a potential game-winning field goal with no time left.
“I was panicking,†Anderson said. “I had no idea what was going on.â€
Don’t feel bad, Blake. Nobody in the capacity crowd at Rolling Hills had a clue either.
Palos Verdes had started to celebrate its 7-6 Bay League win when the referees, after conferring on the sideline, allowed Rolling Hills to set up for a 24-yard field goal, even though the clock had run out on the Titans at the Palos Verdes 8.
The decision didn’t sit well with the Palos Verdes coaches, who argued vehemently from the middle of the field until the referees, perhaps sensing they had blundered, changed their minds and declared the game over.
“I was going to get the ball if I had to,†said Palos Verdes Coach Bill Judy. “We couldn’t believe it.â€
With their sixth straight win, the Sea Kings improved to 9-1 overall and clinched the Bay League co-championship with a 6-1 record.
Palos Verdes shares the title with Hawthorne (9-1, 6-1), which will open the Southern Section Division II playoffs next week as the league’s No. 1 entry by virtue of its 20-0 win over the Sea Kings.
Rolling Hills can make the playoffs as a fourth-place, at-large entry if two things happen: Leuzinger beats Santa Monica tonight and the CIF at-large committee deems the Titans the most worthy fourth-place team in Division II. That decision will be made Sunday morning.
The Titans’ 6-3-1 overall record puts them in contention, but Coach Gary Kimbrell was understandably disappointed after watching his team’s comeback hopes end less than 10 yards from the Palos Verdes goal line.
“(The referees) took off, so I don’t know what the deal was,†he said. “They made one decision and then they changed it. I really don’t know what they were thinking.â€
Rolling Hills, which finished 3-3-1 in league play, trailed the entire game but pulled within one point when tailback Robert Coulter capped a nine-play, 73-yard drive with an eight-yard touchdown run over the right side of the line with 2:44 left.
The Titans again gave the ball to Coulter on a two-point conversion try, but this time Anderson came up from his free safety position to stop him one yard short of the goal line with help from tackle David Bohner.
“Nobody blocked me,†Anderson said. “I ran up and hit him as hard as I could. I was looking for that exact play. I just had a feeling.â€
Anderson scored Palos Verdes’ only touchdown on a four-yard keeper that capped the first possession of the game. The highlight of the 55-yard drive came on the first play from scrimmage when running back Bill Smiley completed a 30-yard option pass to wide receiver John Miller.
Miller’s extra point made it 7-0 with 7:26 left in the first quarter.
From there, the game slowed to a defensive struggle. Neither team drove inside the other’s 40-yard line again until the third quarter, and Rolling Hills was stymied by two fumbles and an interception by quarterback Greg Schwartz.
But the Titans stayed close and rallied in the fourth quarter behind Coulter, who led all rushers with 144 yards on 27 carries.
After Coulter’s touchdown run made it 7-6, Rolling Hills forced Palos Verdes to punt and got the ball back with 1:36 left at its own 31 with no timeouts.
The drive sputtered at first, but Schwartz suddenly got hot and completed successive passes of 24 yards to wide receiver Isaac Brown and 19 yards to tight end Jim Rudberg to move the ball to the Palos Verdes 20 with 10 seconds left.
The clock was stopped with each first down, to allow time to move the yard markers, and restarted when the ball was spotted.
Schwartz again hit Rudberg over the middle for the 12-yard gain to the 8, and the clock was stopped with two seconds left. Without any timeouts, though, Rolling Hills could only look on helplessly as the referees restarted the clock after spotting the ball.
“The referee had spotted it,†Judy said. “When you spot it on first down, you start the clock.â€
Although Palos Verdes won, it lost the statistical battle. Rolling Hills outgained the Sea Kings in total yards, 246-167, and first downs, 15-9.
Running back George Felactu led a balanced running attack for Palos Verdes with 58 yards on 10 carries.
Go beyond the scoreboard
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