[More Cowbell]

I’ve watched it on film several times. There was no penalty for a false start on that play. However, holding can be called on pretty much every play.

Not trying to argue, but I believe the outcome would have been very different if not for that flag. And I’ll stick by that. SV barely moved the ball the whole second half.

Call me lame all you want, refs around here suck. Period. And they especially don’t take it serious enough, especially at the junior high level.

I will agree with you on one thing, you probably could call holding on every play. That's why it usually is not called unless it is very blatant and clearly affected the play. But the one that was called in the 4th quarter was very questionable, and it certainly was not blatant enough to be seen on the video.

You mentioned that Valley didn't move the ball in the 2nd half. They had 2 possessions, the first of which ended at the Pikeville 10-yard line. That drive also was affected by a blatant refereeing mistake. Valley was called (correctly) for an illegal man downfield, which pushed them back 5 yards. However, the refs incorrectly ruled it as a loss of down, so what should have been a 2nd and 12 after the penalty ended up being a 3rd and 12. That would loom large when Valley ended up 2 yards short on 4th down. Instead of having a chance to convert 4th and short, it was a turnover on downs.

Then, the next drive, Valley had a 30 yard run called back by the aforementioned holding call. Instead of a 1st down inside the Pikeville 40, it made it a 4th and 20, and resulted in Pikeville getting the ball again.

You're right, if the refs didn't call Pikeville for the false start, they very well may have won the game. But I could also point out that if the holding on Valley was not called on the drive before, Pikeville may not have gotten the ball back anyway. Or if Valley did not incorrectly lose a down on the first drive of the 2nd half, they may have scored again and made it a 2 TD lead.

I do agree that the officiating is not always great in our youth leagues around here. Usually both teams can point to multiple calls in a game that they do not agree with. But the bottom line is that the referee calls did not clearly favor one team over the other, and did not decide who won the game.

SV was the better team last night and deserved the win. Pikeville will get another chance to beat Valley in the state playoffs.