Why I still love High School Football

Whenever I tell someone what I do for a living they always think it's one of the coolest jobs in the world (I'm not gonna lie, it truly is). However, after they ask me about all the professional and college sports I get to cover they always ask the same question: "So, do you like have to cover high school sports too? That must suck." It's always said in the same tone too, like they feel sorry for me for having to cover high school teams. My answer is always the same too: "Yes, I love covering high school sports. They're one of the only pure forms of competition we still have left."

Nothing proves my point more than the game I got to cover last Friday. I was fortunate enough to see Conway Springs vs. Garden Plain in Garden Plain last year and this year I got to see it in Conway Springs. There's no comparing the two sights because it's equally impressive in both towns. Everyone turns out to see the game even if they don't have a kid on the team. It's a rivalry that's one of the best in the state. And this year the game provided even more fuel for the never ending fire.

It was right before the half, I'm talking seconds here, and Garden Plain was about to score. The Cardinals were up 13-0 and it was a perfect shot for the Owls to get a little momentum before halftime. Brandon Eck got the handoff, he powered forward and leapt with his hand outstretched to get the ball into the end zone. I was standing right by the goal line watching the play unfold through my camera lens. I was all set to mark it as a touchdown in my footage, until the referees came in and said Eck's knee was down before the ball crossed the plane. There wasn't enough time for a final play and Conway Springs took a 13-0 lead into the locker rooms.

Now I don't want to take anything away from the Cardinals' defense because put up a heck of an effort on the stop, but when we took another look at the footage in slow motion it's very clear that Eck scored on that play. So, if the ref calls it a touchdown, the score would be 13-7 at the half and suddenly it's a whole different ball game. There was no protest from the Garden Plain sideline because there's no way Todd Puetz could've seen the play, it was blocked by the rest of the players. Garden Plain went on to lose the game because of an outstanding defensive effort from Conway Springs, but you can't help but wonder how the second half would've gone if Eck's play had been ruled a touchdown.

If that play had been in a collge or professional game there's not a doubt in my mind it would've been reviewed and Garden Plain would've gotten the call overturned. But as it is the call stands because there is no such thing as review in high school. And that is why I love college sports. Plays like that only make the rivalry more intense, puts more pressure on the teams to play better because there are no second chances on how the refs make the call.

I think we spend way too much time trying to make college and pro games perfect, put them in a vacuum so to speak. But isn't that vacuum so boring? That play by Eck is going to fester in the minds of the Owls for a while. It's going to make the Conway players realize just how lucky they were to win that game. It's going to come back and be a big factor in the rematch that will more than likely happen when the playoffs come around. Can you imagine how heated the next game will be between these two teams? I can and I absolutely want to be there to see what happens.