Patterson Irrigator

Bizarre penalty call halts Patterson comeback

Rarely called rule explained

“On a kick, the guards may lock legs with the center only. The right guard may place his left foot inside the center’s right foot after both players assume a stance so that their legs cross or lock. The left guard may place his right foot on the opposite side of the center. By locking legs, the guards help stabilize the snapper from an all-out rush on his head and shoulders while he leans down over the ball. All other players on the line of scrimmage must have their feet outside the feet of the players next to them."

— Football for Dummies

HILMAR — That the Hilmar High football team benefited from a bizarre call late in the fourth quarter of Friday’s regular season finale wasn’t debatable, because by the time it happened, Patterson hardly had a chance to argue.

 

With just over 1 minute to play, Patterson kicker Eric Mejia connected on what would have been a game-tying, 39-yard field goal. But officials ruled that the legs of a Patterson tackle and guard were illegally interlocked on the play, a 5-yard penalty — only the center and guards can interlock legs on placekicks.

 

Instead of celebrating the tie and preparing for overtime, Mejia attempted another kick. His 44-yard try sailed wide, and the host Yellowjackets prevailed, 13-10.

 

“We know the rule, and we protect the way that we are supposed to,” Patterson coach Rob Cozart said. “I don’t know what the referee saw.

“To make a call like that in the final seconds is pretty bad.”

 

Friday’s outcome has playoff implications.

The loss dropped the Tigers (7-3, 3-2 Western Athletic Conference) to third place in league. They’ll travel to Jackson on Friday to face Mother Lode League champion Argonaut (7-3, 5-0 MLL) in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V playoffs.

With the win, Hilmar (9-1, 4-1 WAC) wrapped up second place in league play. The Yellowjackets travel to face Modesto Christian (8-2, 4-1 Trans-Valley League) on Friday.

Should the stars align, however, the Tigers and the Yellowjackets could meet again in the semifinals. And thanks to Friday’s win, Hilmar would have home-field advantage in a rematch.

“We should have stepped it up way earlier than the second half,” Patterson receiver Ronyea Ellington said. “We were supposed to come out mad and ready to fire off, and we didn’t.”

Patterson’s offense appeared to click in the early going.

The Tigers marched down field on their opening possession. They exhausted four minutes on eight plays, setting up Mejia for a 42-yard field goal. He split the uprights to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.

But both teams were troubled by penalties, inconsistency and missed opportunities throughout the remainder of the first half. The score remained 3-0 at halftime.

Hilmar responded immediately in the second half.

Hugh Ewing returned the opening kickoff 85 yards up the sideline for a touchdown. The extra point caromed off the upright, but the Yellowjackets led 6-3.

The Tigers reached deep into their bag of tricks to come up with an answer, and quarterback Daniel Reza (17-of-34, 227 yards) directed Patterson to its second scoring drive.

During a timeout, tackle Jacob Priester swapped his No. 58 jersey for No. 88, reported as an eligible receiver and caught a 15-yard pass from Reza for a touchdown, reclaiming the lead at 10-6 late in the third quarter.

But the Tigers defense — which appeared stout for most of the game — made a costly error late in the game.

Wyatt Young pinned the Yellowjackets back at their own 3-yard line with a booming punt. Patterson held Hilmar to only 2 yards on the first two plays of its drive and forced an incompletion on third-and-long.

But a roughing-the-passer penalty called against the Tigers kept the drive alive for Hilmar. Quarterback Quinton McCown chipped away at Patterson’s defense with short passes, while slowly chewing up the clock.

Eventually, the Yellowjackets found themselves at Patterson’s doorstep, and with 3:22 remaining, Ewing punched in the go-ahead touchdown.

This extra point gave the Yellowjackets a 13-10 lead.

“We gave them new life with that penalty,” Cozart said. “A couple of plays here and a couple of plays there — before you know it, they’re scoring, and with not much time left.”

The Tigers began their final drive at their own 28-yard line. And, with 3:14 left to play, Reza began orchestrating one final push up the field.

Patterson soon found themselves facing a fourth-and-8 scenario, still backed up at their own 30. Reza dropped back to pass, rolled out to his left, and lofted a pass up the sideline to a diving Young, whose 12-yard grab kept the Tigers’ hopes alive.

Reza later connected with Ellington on a pair of tosses for 28 yards with time winding down. But the Tigers couldn’t complete a third-down play with 1:27 left, and Mejia was called in to attempt the game-tying field goal.

“The fact of the matter is we had no offensive life up until that last drive,” Cozart said.

The ball was snapped and the kick sailed through the uprights, but the referee tossed his yellow flag and whistled the play dead. The resulting call confused spectators and infuriated the Patterson sideline.

Hilmar ran out the clock and walked off the field victorious, leaving the Tigers perplexed.

“We’ve got to live with it,” Cozart said. “They don’t like us, and we don’t like them.

“It’s going to be that kind of a rivalry now. If we can get the job done next week, then we’ll be here in two weeks to finish the job that we started.”

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