High school ref cheats, a breakdown
What Happened
In a close high school football game between Vineland High School and Eastern, the referees make a controversial and seemingly biased call that significantly impacts the outcome. Late in the fourth quarter, with Vineland leading by one point, Eastern's number 55, Jamal Henderson, strips the ball from Vineland's player number 73 and recovers it, putting Eastern in position to take the lead. The replay shows Henderson clearly stripping the ball and recovering it, but the referees mark it down short of the first down marker. On the next drive, Eastern's running back, number 1 Tyrone Johnson, gains a few yards on second down, setting up a third and seven situation. Eastern's quarterback then rolls out on third down, but the pass falls incomplete, bringing up fourth and seven. The Eastern receiver, number 4 Devin Jackson, is tackled after catching the pass and the referees have to mark the spot of the ball. This is where the controversy begins. One referee initially spots the ball short of the first down, but the other referee moves it forward, placing it at the 11-yard line, which the commentators believe is too far. The referees then stretch the chains and despite the ball appearing to be short of the first down, the head referee grabs the chains and inches them forward, signaling a first down. The Eastern players and coaches are visibly upset, with number 52 Darius Thompson and number 1 Tyrone Johnson expressing their frustration. The commentators are also shocked by the referee's actions, with one saying, "That was a little suspect there" and another noting, "It looked like our official there pushed the ball a little bit forward and signaled it a first down." Despite the questionable call, Vineland goes on to score a touchdown and win the game. The summary ends with the information that the referees involved in this game will not be allowed to officiate playoff games, though the commentators question whether this is an adequate punishment. The video also shows a fun play from earlier in the game, where Eastern's number 3 player strips the ball and recovers it, though it ultimately does not lead to a positive outcome.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentVineland High School is up by one point
in the fourth quarter and look at number
55 on Eastern just bulldozed past 73.
strip the ball loose recover it himself
and celebrate accordingly watch that
play again all right here he is off bust
that guy 73 kind of not even really try
and got the game in hand strips the ball
loose gets it himself puts Eastern in a
spot to take the lead in this game this
is New Jersey high school this was a
Thanksgiving Invitational for like the
njiaaua there's a lot of letters
involved I didn't really understand what
was going on all right they're going to
give the ball to number one the running
back he dips he Dives doesn't get that
many yards they're down by one it's
second and nine now they're going to
give the ball to the other running back
he runs into the pile doesn't get that
many yards I don't know what he got it
was second and nine and now it's third
and seven so we got two now the
quarterback's Gonna Roll Out third and
seven and that's got nothing doing
fourth and seven he throws it to number
four he gets tackled he's down and
they're gonna mark it here and this is
where it gets really funky so let's slow
it down and where would we Market
obviously we only have one camera angle
the ball's on his right side if his knee
is down there you're probably looking at
if that's the 10 11 like the 12 yard
line if his knee wasn't down and he
rolls then maybe it's the 11 yard line
it's definitely not further than that
so the one ref's going to get the ball
the other ref is marking it with his
feet and this guy's like nah move up a
little bit so they put it at I think the
11. and everyone's saying no it's first
down no it's not a first down now the
ref in the white hat he says everybody
get out of here I need some time alone
with this situation yeah then put it at
the 11. I think it wasn't even that far
and that looks like it might be a first
down nice nice New Jersey Devils
Sweatpants by this guy so watch this
it's pretty wild they're like all right
let's stretch the chains so the guy the
guy with the chain he's like stretches
them as far as he can and okay that's
gonna be short
by a little bit and look at the ref he
grabs it so first he grabs it moves it
closer the Chain's not even taut now
then he grabs the bomb and inches it and
he's like yep first down now the best
part is
the other team is scouring over watching
over his shoulder like they're on the
ball it's not like they're not watching
and look at number 52's reaction I mean
look at all the reactions when he moves
it and moves it green gloves go up in
there and 50's like what and this ref's
just uh
uh okay then first down
Wild
no I don't stretch it that far and the
ball was probably actually there first
down
oh okay all right
and then he's going to walk to the
center and he's just saying I ain't
taking no Guff I ain't taking no Guff
you guys talk about what you just saw
it'll be an automatic first down you
good you're good he's like yeah yeah
we're good man we just want you to leave
us alone thanks man see ya he's like all
right that's it no talking about it the
best part was the announcer's reactions
listen to what they say stretch that
baby there we go give it a good pull
and violence defense
oh no what what what
that was a little suspect there that it
looked like it was a half a yard short
it was and then it looked like uh our
our official there pushed the ball a
little bit forward and
signaled it
a first down
just Men of Integrity calling the game
they gotta call it like they see it
now the other raft who initially marked
it a little short he's gonna be like uh
I don't know and he calls a hold on
number 56 the center here who turns
around and he's like what flag what hold
what me
oh what no and look at number one just
dogging him come on dude are you kidding
me
they're all yelling at him it's like he
didn't even do anything guys the refs
are just kind of having to tug a war
with the rules here he gives you the
first they push back oh look at number
one showing them how to push push them
push them don't hold them push them push
them 56 got your back man I don't think
you did anything I mean your hands
weren't perfect I guess you're not on
his chest but the ref who calls it isn't
even looking on this side of his body
he's looking at the other side I guess
we can't see the other side didn't even
really affect the play though
boo see the flag came from over there
and there's the other official who
thought it was short of the first down
going to call that hold and push him
back I saw some people saying that it
didn't affect the game because Vineland
still won but it definitely affected the
game I mean on that drive where it
should have been a turnover on Downs
they scored a touchdown to go ahead in
the fourth quarter
the reps are just lucky that Eastern
like really did need their help because
Vineland does come back to score good
for number zero there
so they returned the kick pretty
decently there and then they're gonna
score a touchdown on second and goal and
they win and then it doesn't really
matter but it does they said these reps
will not be allowed to ref play off
games anymore
it doesn't seem like that much of a
punishment but maybe the pay is better I
don't know but like you blatantly
cheated find out why this was a fun play
from earlier in the game I saw that I
figured I'd share watch uh watch the
dude just sneaking up just sneaking up
hiding behind all the big guys hiding
hiding they take the snap handle the
little fumble rooski he comes around the
side it's awesome they gain yards no he
gets stripped fumbles it number three
grabs it picks it up not not good in the
end but fun but not good anyway that ref
cheated