Much of America watched Sunday night's primetime NFL faceoff between the Jets and Cowboys with interest. Most will recall the game with a focus on late errors made by Tony Romo, but earlier in the game, Cowboys wide receiver turned Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie into the victim, ripping away a seemingly certain interception and turning it into a key touchdown in one fell swoop.

It turns out that play was preceded by an almost identical play in a Utah high school game just two days before. The difference is that the Utah prep play was much more impactful, with the result of an entire game in the balance after a Hail Mary pass was thrown with just 1 second on the clock.

As documented in detail by both the Salt Lake Tribune and Provo Daily Herald, the much-hyped matchup between Mountain View (Utah) High and Timpview (Utah) High came down to a final drive. Trailing 25-21 with just more than a minute to go, Timpview drove within shouting distance of the end zone, finding itself at the Mountain View 21-yard line with just 1 second remaining. After taking the final snap, Timpview quarterback Jake Lloyd scrambled but found little open. With nowhere else to look, he tossed up a prayer to the right side of the end zone, to where star receiver Ricky Shumway was running a fade pattern. 

When the ball came down, Shumway was there. Unfortunately for Timpview, so was a Mountain View defender. And, as the ball came down, it appeared clear that the game would end on a dramatic Mountain View interception, sending the Thunderbirds to a tough early season loss.

That's when Shumway sprung into action, ripping the ball free as he and his defender rolled into the end zone. Officials saw the ball briefly in Shumway's possession and instantly signaled for a game-winning touchdown.

As Timpview players ecstatically charged onto the field to celebrate a truly unlikely 27-25 victory, Mountain View coaches and players angrily complained that Shumway never had possession of the ball. The video above shows that the Bruins might just have a point. While Shumway clearly ripped the ball out of the Mountain View defender's possession before he could retain it for an interception, it's hard to see how he would have held it for long enough for the pass to count as a completion … and the game-winning touchdown as was credited.

If nothing else, the call makes a clear case for why Utah and other state high school associations might want to at least consider video replay. While such procedures would be almost impossible to institute in an ongoing basis -- most games across the nation are still not televised live, after all -- a retroactive touchdown review tribunal might make results from across the country significantly more accurate.

If not the greatest -- and one could probably claim he was the greatest -- Michael Jordan was at least the most influential dunker of the NBA's modern era. Now a new "MJ" is trying to get his name in the conversation of great dunkers, though his impressive dunks are notable for a different reason: He's only 12 years old.

MJ Walker, whose given name is James Michael Walker, shocked onlookers when the rising eighth-grader won the annual dunk contest at the Junior All-America camp this summer. As you can see above in footage from the contest which just leaked out, his repertoire of slams was extraordinarily advanced for a 12-year-old.

On the dunk that won him the contest, Walker, a Georgia Stars AAU player who hails from College Park, Ga., used a human prop to demonstrate his explosive verticality, soaring over a standing campmate before throwing down a nasty slam.

In fact, if you look at Walker's body posture as he elevates over his manned prop, it is eerily reminiscent of Jordan's ubiquitous "Jumpman" logo. Perhaps a bit too symbolic for such a young age, but a hard omen not to notice when a teen named "MJ" is competing in a national dunk contest.

While Walker's winning dunk might not be a world class slam, it's pretty impressive for a 12-year-old. In fact, it's almost unfathomable that a kid who was in sixth grade until just weeks before this competition could get that high, that easily.

He did, and by doing so he stole some of the acclaim from now-famed eighth-grade dunker Adrian Moore, who finished as the contest's runner-up.

Usually, a 12-member basketball team has no problem replacing a player when he or she goes down injured in the middle of a game. Granted, the replacement might not perform quite as well as the original injured player, but at least they can step in to fill their literal shoes on the court.

That wasn't the case during the recent FIBA 3-on-3 Youth World Championships, though, an event at which the U.S. girls squad earned a rare honorary bronze medal. Here's how those unique awards ended up in American hands:

In a competition that only allowed teams to bring four players, the United States found itself in a semifinal match against Italy. Heading into the game, the U.S. had one of its four roster players -- Taya Reimer -- out for the remainder of the tournament because of an ankle injury.

Because of that injury, the U.S. team was comprised of just top recruit Kaela Davis, Linnae Harper and Rebecca Greenwell for an entire game. Less than two minutes into the semifinal, that number decreased by one, with Greenwell falling prey to a knee injury.

Suddenly an international 3-on-3 matchup was 3-on-2. And while that should have made for a horrible mismatch, the U.S. duo made a fight of it, forcing the game against host nation Italy into overtime before eventually falling, 21-19.

"It was one of the most amazing games I've ever been a part of," Jamie Carey, USA Basketball Assistant Women's National Team Director and girls team leader, said in a release about the game. "It was unbelievable to watch. This game is hard as it is, and then to play with two people, it was amazing to watch those two girls compete."

Because the U.S. was left with just Davis and Harper for its scheduled bronze medal match against Japan, it was forced to forfeit. Yet, because of the team's refusal to forfeit its semifinal when down to two players, FIBA awarded honorary bronze medals to all four team members.

One of the top high school football programs in Florida -- and the nation -- is facing the possible forfeiture of its entire 2011 season and thousands of dollars in fines after the Florida High School Athletic Association found that seven of its athletes had committed egregious violations to gain eligibility to play for the school during the 2010-11 school year.

Lakeland football team

According to the Lakeland Ledger's PolkPreps high school sports website, Lakeland (Fla.) High administrators conceded that all seven athletes whose eligibility were brought into question may have falsified addresses or failed to make a full and complete move into Lakeland's residential area before beginning to play for the Dreadnaughts. Additionally, the initial Florida High School Athletic Association report also found that an investigator found evidence that some athletes also received illegal benefits, including free rent, from a third party as a means to live in the Lakeland catchment area and gain eligibility to play for the school.

Five of the seven athletes cited in the FHSAA report play for the nationally ranked Dreadnaughts football team, which currently sits at No. 74 in the RivalsHigh 100 standings. Among those five, two played during the 2010 football season, participating in a total of 25 games between them, a total which would bring with it a fine of $62,500, according to FHSAA disciplinary standards.

Because the other three football players only joined during the offseason, the school would be fined for only two games for the illegal inclusion of all five players.

That sum also doesn't include the other two ineligible players, who competed in sports which were not released by PolkPreps. Their participation in those sports would have also accumulated a per-game fine as well.

While the massive sums could put a prohibitive dent in Lakeland's future athletic plans, the ancillary sanctions that come with them could be equally trying. Two schools recently sanctioned by the FHSAA -- Oviedo (Fla.) High for various wrestling indiscretions and Jacksonville (Fla.) Mandarin Christian for violations in a number of sports -- received postseason bans for three and five years respectively, a penalty which could be forthcoming for the Dreadnaughts as well.

"They may put them on probation or sanction them for lack of administrative control for a year or two, but as far as going back — I don't think they would do that," Polk County director of athletics Don Bridges told PolkPreps.com. "We're hoping for the best there and I hope they believe that we did everything we could do right."

Now, Lakeland finds itself in the unique position of getting flack from both state officials and the very players for whom it is under scrutiny. On Tuesday, The Ledger reported that a lawyer for the family of a new Lakeland student who is being ruled ineligible is placing the blame for his client's ineligibility squarely at the hands of the school itself.

When San Jose (Calif.) Piedmont Hills High School principal Traci Williams decided to actually enforce a longstanding ban on miniskirts at the school, her school-wide dress-code sweeps found a very surprised target: The school's cheerleading squad. Now members of the Pirates' spirit team are facing a season wearing sweatpants under their uniforms during school to avoid violating the dress code, a measure that they're none too pleased about.

Piedmont Hills cheerleaders in summer training

As first reported by the San Jose Mercury News, the move to make cheerleaders wear sweats under their uniforms was enforced so they could fall in line with a dress code that requires all skirts or shorts to stretch lower than mid-thigh. The Piedmont Hills cheerleaders' custom-tailored uniforms came relatively close to achieving that benchmark, but Williams declared that they didn't quite hit it, leading to the necessary adjustments.

Administrators feel that they have a valid reason for stepping up enforcement of the miniskirt ban. While standards in teen clothing in school can vary widely from state to state, Williams described the attire worn by many of the students at Piedmont Hills as ranging from slightly inappropriate to nearly lewd.

"Pockets are hanging out," Williams told the Mercury News of skirts that had been identified in recent clothing sweeps. "Cheeks are hanging out. We don't want them bending over."

While the cheerleaders feel the school administration should ease up on its enforcement of the rule, the Mercury News reported that plenty of other students had been sent into a special building until their parents arrived with a change of clothes, all because their skirts were deemed to be too skimpy.

The difference, of course, is that the Pirates cheerleaders are wearing a custom-tailored, $300 school uniform during classes, all as part of a drive to improve school spirit on game days.

"This is really unfair to us," Piedmont Hills senior cheerleader Antonia Bavilacqua told the Mercury News. The skirts are still OK for games, just not during school. "We're just sad and hurt. It's our school colors and spirit. And they're making us feel like outcasts."

Now Bavilacqua is leading a charge to try and get Williams to ease up on her enforcement of the rule, citing both a prior case in Florida, common sense (another cheerleader cited the weather concerns, saying "It's 95 degrees outside"), and fashion sense as reasons to allow the cheerleaders to wear their uniforms in school one day a week.

After all, as one of the squad's other senior cheerleaders said, wearing sweatpants under a miniskirt is, "dorky."

The road to the Chicago Public League championship just got a whole lot easier this season. Chicago (Ill.) Julian High School was considered the front-runner to take home the league championship this season, after former Chicago (Ill.) Morgan Park High School quarterback Dae'Shaun Hurley transferred to Julian over the summer.

Hurley, who was already being courted by numerous Division I schools -- Arizona, West Virginia and four different Big Ten schools among them -- made the decision to transfer after Morgan Park head coach Lexie Spurlock was fired. As the Chicago Tribune reported, the move immediately sent up red flags, as Chicago Sports League administrators  started to take a closer look at the transfer to see if it was made for athletic reasons.

Chicago Public League sports administration director Calvin Johnson ruled on Wednesday that the transfer was indeed made for athletic purposes, forcing Hurley to sit out the entire season.

Davis said he determined that Hurley and another

Just days after a star Mississippi running back collapsed and died on the field during a game, his teammates have pledged to play their next game on Friday night.

D'Iberville football player Latrell Dunbar

As reported by the Associated Press and a variety of different Mississippi news outlets, D'Iberville (Miss.) High star Latrell "Fred" Dunbar collapsed during the third quarter of his team's game against fellow Gulf Coast school Gautier (Miss.) High on Friday. Dunbar was apparently returning to the huddle following a play when he collapsed on the field. After paramedics attempted but failed to resuscitate the running back with CPR on the field he was transported to nearby Ocean Springs Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

A coroner has since ruled that Dunbar's death was caused by a form of heart failure, diagnosing the reason for his collapse as "an acute cardiac event."

Despite his being taken away by paramedics, Dunbar's teammates voted to continue the game, eventually pulling out a 17-14 victory. Immediately thereafter they were told that their teammate had passed.

"I've been in this a long time and I have always feared something like this would happen," 70-year-old D'Iberville football coach Buddy Singleton told the AP. "He was a great kid."

"I've been coaching a long, long time and it is, by far, the worst moment I've ever had," Singleton told The Biloxi-Gulfport Sun Herald, according to the AP. "The game really didn't mean anything."

Now, Singleton and his team have decided to push forward with the team's next scheduled game on Friday, despite dealing with ongoing grief following their teammate's passing. The game against Long Beach (Miss.) High will come a day after a memorial service for Dunbar set for 5 p.m. Thursday.

According to WLOX.com, the decision to play the game followed an emotional meeting between the team and Dunbar's father, who reminded the players that, "they have to go on, and they have to take care of business.  And, we're told his father said business begins in the classroom."

One of the top Catholic football programs in the nation is finding itself in hot water after members of its student fan section directed chants of "We've got Jesus!" at opponents in a heated, intra-city rivalry game on Friday night in Ohio.

Colerain football coach Tom Bolden

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, then-No. 8 Cincinnati (Ohio) Colerain football coach Tom Bolden, pictured at right, reacted with fury when he heard members of the then-No. 26 Cincinnati (Ohio) St. Xavier student section chanting "We've got Jesus!" in the moments after St. X escaped with a narrow, 17-14 victory in a matchup of two teams ranked among the top 30 in the RivalsHigh 100 standings of the country's best teams.

The Bombers escaped with the tight victory after Colerain missed what would have been a game-tying field goal as time expired.

"That's where I've got to draw the line," Bolden told the Enquirer about the postgame chant. "[The St. X student section] ought to be embarrassed."

Of course, Bolden did more than just speak out against the Bombers' student fans. According to one Enquirer staff writer, the Cardinals head coach charged out of his team's huddle following the loss and yelled at the opposing student section in anger.

As one might expect, St. Xavier fans have spoken out about how their Colerain counterparts gave more than their fair share of abuse to the Bombers, as well. After an original Friday postgame Enquirer blog post cited the "We've got Jesus!" chant, multiple St. Xavier students reportedly wrote in to the newspaper citing the Colerain student body starting off the chant wars with a rendition of "We've got girls!", an attack at St. Xavier's all-male, Jesuit student body.

Additionally, one St. Xavier student wrote in to say Bombers fans have few non-religious options with which to respond to opposing fan groups because of the litany of chants they are not allowed to use (because the school's administration has banned them for being offensive).