It was intense. It was controversial.
Did Kevin Haynes get the ball into the end zone? Or was he stopped short?
The Battle Ground Tigers say he scored. Heck, some say he scored twice. Once on third down and then again on fourth down, the last play of the game.
The officials ruled otherwise, on both plays, meaning Heritage held on for a 12-7 victory in a Class 4A Greater St. Helens football win Friday in Battle Ground.
The day after the game, the Tigers still had concerns.
Quarterback Ian Humphrey was ejected for arguing with the officials, Battle Ground coach Larry Peck confirmed Saturday. By rule, Humphrey will miss the next game against Skyview.
“In the heat of the moment, he was asking for clarification and pushing the issue,” Peck said. “The ref apparently had had enough.”
Peck said he would understand the ejection if his player did something egregious. However, after back-to-back calls that went against the Tigers that had a direct impact on the game, Peck would have appreciated a little latitude from the officials.
“(Ian) wasn’t swearing or doing anything stupid,” Peck said.
The coach said he is hoping there is some way that the ejection can be overturned.
However, according to the WIAA Handbook (rule 19.13.0) “ejections resulting from a judgment call by a contest official may NOT be appealed.”
Battle Ground athletic director Karla Kalian said she will look into any options the school has on Monday. She was not optimistic things would go Battle Ground’s way.
John Williams, president of the Evergreen Football Officials Association, said appeals of ejections have to be based on the misapplication of a rule.
Williams, who did not work the game, did acknowledge that if reports are true regarding the clock and the final play of the game, the game should not have ended when it did.
Greg Jayne, the Sports editor for The Columbian, was covering the game. His report on that last play:
“With 12 seconds left, facing fourth down on the 1, Battle Ground called timeout. The Tigers then ran Haynes up the middle, where he did or did not score.
“The officials … indicated it was a first down for Heritage. Then they huddled. Meanwhile, the clock had run down to 0:00, when it should have stopped at the conclusion of the play because it resulted in a change of possession.
“Clearly, the play did not take 12 seconds, and Heritage should have been required to run a play from inside the 1-yard line.”
In Friday’s weather conditions, the Tigers defense would have liked to have seen the Timberwolves have to snap the ball and hope for a fumble. Or even if the Timberwolves had taken a safety, that might have left a second or two for the Tigers to return the free kick.
