HS Football – Undefeated No More

Standley Lake came into Friday evenings game against the Broomfield Eagles 6-0.  Broomfield, who last season was knocked out of the first round of the State Tournament came in with a 3-2 record.  Everyone expected a high scoring game, but in the end, a controversial call decided the game.

This game was weird from the start.  Broomfield won the coin toss and elected to get the ball in the second half.  So they go to kick off and the ball goes straight up into the air.  It lands ten yards down field in front of a surprised Standley Lake player.  With the shock, the Eagles were able to get down field and fall on the ball to take the first possession of the game.  I found out later that this was not a set play.  Broomfield has not found a player that is a consistent kicker for them yet.  After the first quarter the Eagles lead Lake 7-3.  Lake came back in the second quarter, and had a 16-14 lead going into the locker room for half time.

When the third quarter started, Broomfield and Standley Lake would trade touchdowns.  When it was time for the 4th quarter, Lake was leading the game by 2 points, 23-21.  Broomfield added 6 points but this is when it got strange.  There were a few missed calls in the game that should not have been missed, one was a obvious pass interference call that never was called.  It was called even both ways, both good calls and missed calls, but then the big one happened.  On the way downfield for a potential touchdown that may have given them the win, a Lake receiver was hit and went down.  One if his knees hits the ground a split second before his upper body does.  He has the ball tucked under his arm securely and after his knees hit, his arm hit and the ball popped out.  He was down by rule as soon as his knee hit the turf and he rolled over knowing that.  As he starts to get up, not realizing the play had not been blown dead a Broomfield player picks up the ball and starts to run down the field and then a whistle is blown.  As the officials gathered to discuss what happened, I checked the LCD of my camera and saw it was a dead ball before the fumble.  After a long discussion, the referees ruled the ball was a fumble and recovered by Broomfield.  Wait….  What?  Then why was the play blown dead?  If it was a fumble, it was a live ball and Broomfield should have been able to advance it or potentially return the ball for a touchdown.  If it was blown dead, then it was a dead ball, Standley Lake retains the ball and can continue down the field.  Instead, Broomfield got the ball, and the win, moved to 4-2 overall, undefeated in league play.  Now, even though it was, in my opinion, the wrong call, it could be very good for Standley Lake to take this loss as a learning experience and grow from it.  This was a pure offensive game on both sides, and it should show Lake that they need to tighten up their defense.  They could very well go to the State Championship game and offense alone is not going to win the State Championship.

Lighting was great for shooting this game.  I love 4pm starts for games.  Sun is at a great angle for nice lighting and if it is cloudy, you get a nice soft box effect.

Here is my 10 Shot from the game.

These photos and more are available to view and purchase through MaxPreps.