On the off chance that you still needed convincing that Texas takes high school football seriously, look no further than Dallas Skyline High School. After losing a recent Class 5A Division 1 playoff game on, what they believe to be, a dubious officiating call, Skyline is filing an official complaint to the state's governing athletic association in the hopes that it will overturn the results of the game.
Skyline High School led Southlake Carroll by 10 points with 2:36 left in the fourth quarter of the semifinal playoff game, but Southlake staged an improbable comeback with the help of a controversial onside kick. Why was the onside kick controversial? Officials at Skyline claim that the ball did not travel the necessary 10 yards on the play. Of course, the referee ruled that the ball did travel the required distance and the seven-time state champs at Southlake certainly didn't seem to have a problem with the outcome of the play. Southlake would score on the next possession to win the game 28-24.
Rather than adopt a "we'll get 'em next year" attitude, Skyline has announced plans to file a complaint.
"It is not about sour grapes," Skyline principal Harold Wright told ESPN. "We're going to be men about it. But people need to know that a mistake was made. Our community is upset and we felt compelled to do this."
Although Skyline High School perennially fields a strong team, the school has never won a football state championship. But this was supposed to be the year as the team boasted several notable college prospects. They had risen to as high as No. 3 in the Rivals.com national high school rankings and had a chance to be named national high school champions by various media outlets had they gone on to win the state championship.
As is the case in any close loss, it is not fair to pin the outcome on a single play. After all, Skyline allowed two touchdowns in the closing minutes, not just the go-ahead score after the kick in question. Perhaps most importantly, video of the onside kick is hardly conclusive. Did the ball travel 10 yards before it was recovered? You can take a look at the play below and tell us what you think in the comment section.