Illinois Judge Is Hearing Arguments Over High School Game Similar To OSU-CMU

We have ourselves a situation. We have had ourselves a situation for many weeks now as the Central Michigan loss has loomed over the head of Oklahoma State. Mike Gundy has addressed it. Bob Stoops has addressed it. It seems everyone has addressed it.

Obviously everyone knows what happened at the end of the CMU-Oklahoma State game. A play that shouldn’t have happened did happen, and OSU is 9-2 instead of 10-1.

“Well, we did get the win; nobody will ever convince me we didn’t get the win,” Mike Gundy said on Saturday after beating TCU when asked about CMU again. He has repeated some variation of this dozens of times and even made fun of the CFB Playoff committee when he was asked if he watches its weekly show.

Anyway, the same thing — nearly the exact same thing — happened recently in a 7A Illinois high school playoff game. Here’s Deadspin on Fenwick’s loss to Plainfield North.

On the final play of regulation, with Fenwick holding a 10-7 lead with four seconds left on a meaningless fourth-and-15, quarterback Jacob Keller chucked the ball downfield after the clock had expired, seemingly putting a bow on the semifinal win.

However, officials slapped Fenwick with an intentional grounding penalty, and gave the ball back to Plainfield North for an untimed down. Plainfield North kicked a field goal on the next play, sending the game to overtime and setting the stage for their wild game-winning play. Thus began the saga that’s since turned into a legal battle over who gets to go to the state championship game.

A legal battle, huh? Whereas OSU’s legal battle didn’t really go anywhere, this one is. In fact, a judge is hearing the case today to decide which team will move on to the finals.

Judge Kathleen Kennedy is scheduled to hear the case [Wednesday] morning and make a ruling. Fenwick reportedly cited a 2008 decision in Mississippi when a similar situation was eventually overturned by an athletic ruling body, as well as the IHSA’s own reversal of the 2008 Illinois state wrestling tournament.

It’s rare for any on-field dispute to go to a professional judge for adjudication, but since Plainfield has said that they will prepare for the upcoming state championship game and will not forfeit, the case rests with a higher authority. Hopefully, justice is served.

Whoo boy.

“It would be one thing if it was a missed holding call or if it was a judgment call, but this was not a judgment call,” Fenwick Principal Peter Groom told the Chicago Tribune. “This was a rule that was not applied when there was no more time left on the clock. I don’t know how I tell my kids (to accept the outcome) in this situation.”

Sounds like Mike Gundy.

We will be keeping an eye on this case as it unfolds on Wednesday. Will a precedent be set for the CMU-OSU game to follow suit? If OSU doesn’t win Bedlam, none of this matters obviously, but if it does and this gets overturned, Gundy’s press conference next Monday will be one for the ages.

Update.

Plainfield North will play East St. Louis for Class 7A state title

— Michael O'Brien (@michaelsobrien) November 23, 2016