Palm Beach Central @ Fort Pierce Central...

[JDHoss]

Just a terrific high school football game from start to finish, with one of the most bizarre officiating sequences I've ever seen. PBC and FPC were tied 14-14 at the half. PBC completely shut the FPC running game down, but QB Drew LaPlante kept the chains moving with the short and intermediate passing game and hit WR Marquan Burgess across the middle and he ran away from the Bronco secondary for a 67 yard TD to put the Cobras up 28-21 early in the 4th. Bronco QB Chase Routson led them on a long drive, and with 1:26 to go, hit WR Jayden St Fort for an 18 yard TD to make it 28-27. I thought for sure it would go to OT, but the snap was just a little off and the holder took a split second longer to get it down, throwing the timing off and the kicker pushed it wide right to keep it at 28-27. On the onside kick attempt, a PBC defender CLEARLY touched the football before it went 10 yards, and the flag came out immediately by the closest official. PBC recovered the ball around midfield, but the football was correctly awarded to FPC at the 47 where it was first touched by the kid from PBC. The FPC offense and the PBC defense took the field and and were approaching the LOS, when PBC used a timeout, which I thought was odd because I was sure they only had 2, and would need both to have even a slim shot to get the football back. That's when the fun started. After a lengthy discussion, the officials changed their minds, and said that it was PBC's football...but not at the point where it was recovered. They moved the football back to the PBC 35 with no apparent signal of a penalty. I've seen penalties waved off in high school, but I have NEVER seen a call like that reversed after that length of time. After all that, PBC moved down to FG range, but a holding call and a sack left them with the football at the FPC 43 with 4 seconds to go. Routson's pass on the Hail Mary was all you could ask for, and he had 2 WR going up for it in a crowd of FPC defensive backs, and after it was tipped, a Cobra DB came away with it to preserve the win. FPC will host Doc Phillips next week. 

We also saw a FIT game on Thursday night with @MarkECannon at Doc Garcia as the Bulldogs hosted the Sarasota Sailors. It was another highly entertaining back and forth game that was tied 21-21 after one quarter, and still a 41-33 game with Doc Garcia leading early in the 4th, but Sarasota's defense was gassed and Garcia started gashing them on the ground to come away with a 55-33 win. Still, I loved getting an extra game in this week, and love the FIT setup. If those kids and coaches want to keep playing and coaching, why not? On a side note, Palm Beach Central had a QB that I saw play as a freshman and sophomore named Cade Butler. I wondered whatever became of him, as he was no longer at PBC after the Routson kid transferred from Boca to PBC a couple of years ago. It turns out that Butler is the QB at Doc Garcia now. He was MONEY on Thursday night, and I'd guess was well over 300 yards passing with 4 TD. 

[Jambun82]

2 hours ago, JDHoss said:

Just a terrific high school football game from start to finish, with one of the most bizarre officiating sequences I've ever seen. PBC and FPC were tied 14-14 at the half. PBC completely shut the FPC running game down, but QB Drew LaPlante kept the chains moving with the short and intermediate passing game and hit WR Marquan Burgess across the middle and he ran away from the Bronco secondary for a 67 yard TD to put the Cobras up 28-21 early in the 4th. Bronco QB Chase Routson led them on a long drive, and with 1:26 to go, hit WR Jayden St Fort for an 18 yard TD to make it 28-27. I thought for sure it would go to OT, but the snap was just a little off and the holder took a split second longer to get it down, throwing the timing off and the kicker pushed it wide right to keep it at 28-27. On the onside kick attempt, a PBC defender CLEARLY touched the football before it went 10 yards, and the flag came out immediately by the closest official. PBC recovered the ball around midfield, but the football was correctly awarded to FPC at the 47 where it was first touched by the kid from PBC. The FPC offense and the PBC defense took the field and and were approaching the LOS, when PBC used a timeout, which I thought was odd because I was sure they only had 2, and would need both to have even a slim shot to get the football back. That's when the fun started. After a lengthy discussion, the officials changed their minds, and said that it was PBC's football...but not at the point where it was recovered. They moved the football back to the PBC 35 with no apparent signal of a penalty. I've seen penalties waved off in high school, but I have NEVER seen a call like that reversed after that length of time. After all that, PBC moved down to FG range, but a holding call and a sack left them with the football at the FPC 43 with 4 seconds to go. Routson's pass on the Hail Mary was all you could ask for, and he had 2 WR going up for it in a crowd of FPC defensive backs, and after it was tipped, a Cobra DB came away with it to preserve the win. FPC will host Doc Phillips next week. 

 

 

 

We also saw a FIT game on Thursday night with @MarkECannon at Doc Garcia as the Bulldogs hosted the Sarasota Sailors. It was another highly entertaining back and forth game that was tied 21-21 after one quarter, and still a 41-33 game with Doc Garcia leading early in the 4th, but Sarasota's defense was gassed and Garcia started gashing them on the ground to come away with a 55-33 win. Still, I loved getting an extra game in this week, and love the FIT setup. If those kids and coaches want to keep playing and coaching, why not? On a side note, Palm Beach Central had a QB that I saw play as a freshman and sophomore named Cade Butler. I wondered whatever became of him, as he was no longer at PBC after the Routson kid transferred from Boca to PBC a couple of years ago. It turns out that Butler is the QB at Doc Garcia now. He was MONEY on Thursday night, and I'd guess was well over 300 yards passing with 4 TD. 

If a PBC kicking team player touched the football during a free kick in the neutral zone without any FPC receiving team player touching the football, that would be first touching by K, and a bean bag should have been thrown at the yard line of the first touch, not a flag. First touching is not a penalty, it its more like a violation.  

[JDHoss]

21 hours ago, Jambun82 said:

If a PBC kicking team player touched the football during a free kick in the neutral zone without any FPC receiving team player touching the football, that would be first touching by K, and a bean bag should have been thrown at the yard line of the first touch, not a flag. First touching is not a penalty, it its more like a violation.  

I was thinking it's an illegal touching penalty, but the receiving team gets the ball where it was touched. I saw the flag from the official closest to the play come out immediately when the PBC kid touched it. Did someone throw the beanbag? It's possible, because there was a big scramble for the football and maybe I didn't see it. They correctly gave the football to FPC at the PBC 47 where the player clearly touched it first. The offense and defense came on the field, the chains were set, and ready to go, but then PBC called a timeout, and everything went bizarro world from there. After the long discussion, they gave PBC the football, but not at their 47 (or even midfield, where it was actually recovered), but at their 35. I saw no other penalty flag, and didn't see the official signal a penalty that would have brought the ball back there. They couldn't have possibly handled this any worse than they did. I thought the FPC coach was going to have a stroke. Otherwise, I thought they called a nice game and did a good job of maintaining control in a game that was fairly chippy. No idea why that last sequence went down like it did.

The only thing I can compare it to was a Virginia state semifinal game maybe 10 years ago. A team was punting from their own 8 with a little under a minute to go in the first half. It was 4th and 4. The punt return team was going for a block, and had two guys jump offsides. The HL threw the flag immediately. They gave the offsides signal, and walked the penalty off, which resulted in a first down. The offense and defense came on, and the offense was preparing to take a couple of knees to end the half. Then...there is a big discussion among the crew. It's a discussion that lasts maybe 5 minutes, and from where we were standing at the end zone fence, you could tell it was fairly heated. They reversed the call, saying that the punt team was in an illegal formation...even though the LJ or Head referee never threw a flag for it. They moved the ball back to the 4, and they partially blocked the punt, taking possession at the 9, and getting a TD with about 10 seconds to go. Did it affect the outcome? The team that had the punt blocked lost 24-21. 

[Jambun82]

On 11/17/2025 at 9:44 PM, JDHoss said:

I was thinking it's an illegal touching penalty, but the receiving team gets the ball where it was touched. I saw the flag from the official closest to the play come out immediately when the PBC kid touched it. Did someone throw the beanbag? It's possible, because there was a big scramble for the football and maybe I didn't see it. They correctly gave the football to FPC at the PBC 47 where the player clearly touched it first. The offense and defense came on the field, the chains were set, and ready to go, but then PBC called a timeout, and everything went bizarro world from there. After the long discussion, they gave PBC the football, but not at their 47 (or even midfield, where it was actually recovered), but at their 35. I saw no other penalty flag, and didn't see the official signal a penalty that would have brought the ball back there. They couldn't have possibly handled this any worse than they did. I thought the FPC coach was going to have a stroke. Otherwise, I thought they called a nice game and did a good job of maintaining control in a game that was fairly chippy. No idea why that last sequence went down like it did.

The only thing I can compare it to was a Virginia state semifinal game maybe 10 years ago. A team was punting from their own 8 with a little under a minute to go in the first half. It was 4th and 4. The punt return team was going for a block, and had two guys jump offsides. The HL threw the flag immediately. They gave the offsides signal, and walked the penalty off, which resulted in a first down. The offense and defense came on, and the offense was preparing to take a couple of knees to end the half. Then...there is a big discussion among the crew. It's a discussion that lasts maybe 5 minutes, and from where we were standing at the end zone fence, you could tell it was fairly heated. They reversed the call, saying that the punt team was in an illegal formation...even though the LJ or Head referee never threw a flag for it. They moved the ball back to the 4, and they partially blocked the punt, taking possession at the 9, and getting a TD with about 10 seconds to go. Did it affect the outcome? The team that had the punt blocked lost 24-21. 

I don't have any answer or explanation for why the Officials ruled the way that they did in that situation, if the sequence happened exactly as you described. It seems like a clear-cut case of first touching by K, which should have been a first down for R at the yard line of the first touching spot. It is not a penalty though, an no flag should have been thrown, only a bean bag at the yard line of the first touching. Do you know if Virginia uses NFHS or NCAA rules for high school football? 

[THAT S--T WAS FUNNY]

Its so nice when Jambun steps out of his troll persona and acts human.

[Jambun82]

2 hours ago, THAT S--T WAS FUNNY said:

Its so nice when Jambun steps out of his troll persona and acts human.

I have always been human, but the ladies sometimes want to add the word super to that word when describing me! 

[JDHoss]

19 hours ago, Jambun82 said:

I don't have any answer or explanation for why the Officials ruled the way that they did in that situation, if the sequence happened exactly as you described. It seems like a clear-cut case of first touching by K, which should have been a first down for R at the yard line of the first touching spot. It is not a penalty though, an no flag should have been thrown, only a bean bag at the yard line of the first touching. Do you know if Virginia uses NFHS or NCAA rules for high school football? 

That was the bizarre thing about it. They awarded the football to FPC at the 47, then after the timeout, reversed the call, and then moved it back to the PBC 35. If for some reason they thought the FPC player touched it first, then PBC should have gotten the ball at the 47. Why they moved the football back to the 35 is anyone's guess, because I never saw a signal for a penalty. 

As for Virginia, they use the NFHS rules. 

[Jambun82]

29 minutes ago, JDHoss said:

That was the bizarre thing about it. They awarded the football to FPC at the 47, then after the timeout, reversed the call, and then moved it back to the PBC 35. If for some reason they thought the FPC player touched it first, then PBC should have gotten the ball at the 47. Why they moved the football back to the 35 is anyone's guess, because I never saw a signal for a penalty. 

As for Virginia, they use the NFHS rules. 

All right, what part of Virginia are you from? 

[MarkECannon]

14 hours ago, THAT S--T WAS FUNNY said:

Its so nice when Jambun steps out of his troll persona and acts human.

He’s luring you in brother like a chicken wing on a string.  If you don’t understand the reference ask a crab.

[JDHoss]

17 hours ago, Jambun82 said:

All right, what part of Virginia are you from? 

Southwest

[Jambun82]

21 hours ago, MarkECannon said:

He’s luring you in brother like a chicken wing on a string.  If you don’t understand the reference ask a crab.

Is that why you won't answer my question about that crybaby from Dillard? 

[Jambun82]

7 hours ago, JDHoss said:

Southwest

Have you ever heard of Clarksville Virginia, or Henderson North Carolina?  

[JDHoss]

They're out there on Buggs Island/Kerr Lake, aren't they? We stayed in Farmville about 11 years ago when we went to a state semifinal playoff game and drove down to Clarksville to look at the lake. Pretty country. 

[nolebull813]

19 hours ago, JDHoss said:

Southwest

I don’t live far from SW VA. Went to some 1A region 4 games last year. Not a lot of money. And no athletes. Lol. But the kids play hard. Especially since they all play 2-way. And they are good kids. You can tell the communities down in SWVA raise them right! 

[Jambun82]

9 hours ago, JDHoss said:

They're out there on Buggs Island/Kerr Lake, aren't they? We stayed in Farmville about 11 years ago when we went to a state semifinal playoff game and drove down to Clarksville to look at the lake. Pretty country. 

Yes, that is correct.