Why did Riverview football coach Josh Smithers try to appeal his team's loss to the FHSAA?

SARASOTA - Believing that officiating unduly affected the outcome of his team’s game Friday night against Clearwater Academy International, Riverview head football coach Josh Smithers contacted the Florida High School Athletic Association on Monday to ask if the result, a 35-33 Ram loss, could be appealed.

“To see if there’s been an appeal that has ever worked or not,” he said. “I think it’s (reversal) the right thing to do because there were a couple of things that happened in that game from an officiating standpoint tha,t shouldn’t have been missed.”

There were three calls _ or non-calls, as the case may be _ be over the last 38 seconds by the Gulf Coast Football Officials Association crew working the game that Smithers believes if had been called correctly, his team would have won.

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Setting up the scenario, Riverview had just stopped the Knights on fourth down on their own 32-yard line to take over with 38.7 seconds left and up 33-27. Clearwater did have two timeouts left.

After Riverview took a knee on first down, running back Jackson Watrobsky did a celebratory backflip. Officials assessed him a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, pushing the Rams back 15 yards, but more importantly, stopping the clock with 25 seconds left.

Issue No. 1: Smithers believes the referee ended the game ... twice

With both teams preparing for a second kneel down, this time from the Clearwater 48 after the penalty, the referee, his white hat signifying him as officiating crew chief, suddenly called the game. He actually ended it twice, once before the Rams kneel down on first down, and again immediately after it. Both times he reversed his decision.

“He literally called it twice and waved his hands,” Smithers said. “To me, that should be the end. Whether he made the right decision or not, the game should have ended there. We should have the 'W'.’’

Issue No. 2: Non-calls on two Clearwater International infractions

Smithers’ second complaint happened moments later, on first-and-25 following the Rams' unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Riverview again lined up in victory formation, the Knights only had 10 players on the field. A player left the Clearwater sideline to enter the game just as Riverview hiked the ball. The Knights player was at least 10 yards offside, but no penalty was called, even though the side judge saw him come late onto the field.

“He runs right in front of an official,” Smithers said. “If they call that, that gives us the down over again and we could have run out the clock.”

Besides the no-call on offsides, after the ball was snapped to Braxton Thomas, Clearwater aggressively rushed the Riverview quarterback and pushed him down after he had given himself up by kneeling. That could have drawn an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and it was at this point the referee called the game for the second time, only to reverse himself again.

Issue No. 3: A safety or not a safety?

Clearwater’s use of its last two timeouts after second and third down prevented the Rams from running out the clock, forcing them to punt. On fourth down from the Rams 35, with 7.7 seconds left, Smithers sent out wide receiver Anthony Miller to take the snap from center with instructions to run back toward his own end zone to run out the clock. Miller took the snap, turned, and raced into Riverview’s end zone.

The clock stopped with 1.8 seconds left, with Miller still in the Rams end zone. Two points are awarded for a safety only when a player is brought down with the ball in the end zone, or he steps out of bounds, which Miller did. Video from the play shows what appears to be the clock stopping before he hops out of the back of the end zone.

“I felt like they anticipated (Miller) running out of the back of the end zone,’’ Smithers said. “One of the officials told one of my assistant coaches that as soon as you cross the goal line, that’s a safety, and that’s not obviously the rule. You have to be tackled in the end zone, or (step) out of bounds for it to be a safety.”

Disaster strikes for the Rams

Riverview had to kick off from the 20. A squib kick, to eat up the remaining time, was ordered, but the Rams kicker booted it directly at a Knights player, who fell on it. Only 0.2 seconds were taken off the clock, leaving Clearwater enough time from the Rams 35 for a Hail Mary throw, which was caught for the 35-33 victory.

Do the FHSAA Bylaws state anything about appealing a game?

In September, Cocoa appealed its 37-36 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas, claiming the officials improperly applied clock management rules in the game’s closing seconds. The FHSAA cited Bylaw 4.2.1. for not hearing the appeal, which states, “The outcome of all interscholastic contests are final, and cannot be reversed, except where the rules of the sport permit or in the case where a winner must forfeit its victory or points.

“The decisions of contest officials shall be final and not subject to review. Member schools should file reports with the Executive Director of unsatisfactory performance by contest officials which may be due to alleged lack of knowledge of the rules, errors in judgment, or improper conduct.”

Smithers emailed a video of the game’s final moments, along with the explanation of the officials' calls he felt were erroneous, but the FHSAA responded by saying all contests are final.

Can anything be done to officials who are found to have made errors in a game?

According to the FHSAA Officials Guidebook, the Executive Director may “assess penalties against local officials’ associations and individual officials who violate FHSAA regulations governing the administration and conduct of the FHAA official’s program.

"The penalties can be a reprimand or fine, probation or suspension.”

The Broward Football Officials Association apologized to Cocoa five days after their game agianst Aquinas for “the egregious clock management errors” during the final minutes of the game.”

Handling the matter internally, the BFOA suspended several members of the game’s nine-person officiating crew.

Calls to Ron Egan, president of the Gulf Coast Football Officials Association, which provided the officials for the Riverview-Clearwater Academy International game, were not returned.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Appeal by Riverview coach over officials calls in loss denied by FHSAA