For the first time, instant replay will be used in Arkansas high school football state championship games.
Inside the last two minutes of regulation or overtime, reviewable plays that would be automatically reviewed include reviews to determine if a player was in bounds or out of bounds; whether there was a catch on a pass of interception; possession of the ball; spots that affect the line to gain or rulings that affect the spot of the ball; whether a kick of pass was touched, whether a free kick traveled 10 yards; and whether a pass was a legal or illegal forward pass.
At any point of the game, any scoring play, potential scoring play, turnover, potential turnover, any play that the snap occurs or an ejection can be reviewed.
"The goal of replay is to correct the obvious mistake," Steve Roberts, the Arkansas Activities Association's associate executive director, said. "If there is any disagreement among the replay officials, there won't be any overturning of the call.
"Do not expect this to be NFL-quality replay."
Coaches have to have a timeout to challenge a call. If replay determines the coach's challenge is right, then the coach gets his challenge back as long as he has a timeout.
AETN, which will broadcast the state championship games, will have six cameras for its telecasts and those cameras will be used for replay.
Two officials from the Arkansas Officials Association will be in the replay booth. Along with the AETN cameras, the DVSport replay system will also be used.
"We have the technology now," Roberts said. "We should have a good view of it. The coaches wanted it."
The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) approved in February a rule to permit state associations to create instant-replay procedures for state football postseason contests only.
Coaches in this weekend's state championship games approve the use of replay.
"When you look at the amount of time the kids put into this and the coaches put into this, to just turn a blind eye to a tool that's readily available, to me, is just poor on our part as a coaching community and for AAA," North Little Rock coach Jamie Mitchell said.
"Nobody wants to win on an unfair play or an illegal play. May the best team win. It's a great plus for us."
Bryant coach Buck James said he will make the best judgment he can for his players.
"It's a good thing," James said. "When do you use that? You have to have trust in your coaches and players. We're lucky we have good officials. These are supposed to be the best of the best we have in this game. Those guys are working their tails off and they get it right most of the time."
Sports on 12/06/2019