Taking the Fifth Ends in Injustice

Harry Welch not only remembers it, he has it on film.

And the fifth-down fiasco in a championship game last week between Upland and Diamond Bar highs, under review by the Southern Section, prompted Welch to relive a low point in his long coaching career.

“It was a very terribly unfortunate situation,” Welch said.

That incident occurred in 1989, when Canyon and Santa Barbara met in a section Division II semifinal.

With Canyon leading, 21-14, and 10 seconds to play, Santa Barbara lost a fumble on fourth down at the Canyon one-yard line. The Cowboys were penalized for encroachment and Santa Barbara got another chance with four seconds remaining.

The Cowboys stopped Santa Barbara on the next play and celebrated winning the championship. It was a bit premature.

Officials said they erred on how much time remained and awarded Santa Barbara another play, which the Dons used to tie the score and force overtime. Santa Barbara won, 28-27.

Welch, then the Canyon coach and now a Valencia assistant, smashed a trophy case and did other damage at Santa Barbara in a postgame tirade.

“Literally, the game was over,” Welch said this week. “I think the officials were intimidated by the environment. . . . They made a gross misinterpretation of the rules.”

Canyon’s appeal to the section was denied.

Upland Coach Tim Salter hopes the appeal he filed Monday yields better results.

The Highlanders led, 14-10, with about 2:30 to play in the Division II final on Friday at Cal State Fullerton when officials goofed.

On what proved to be the winning drive, Diamond Bar was called for holding on a third down. Upland declined the penalty. Diamond Bar threw an incomplete pass on what should have been fourth down.

But the down markers were never changed and Salter complained to officials, who allowed the Brahmas an extra play. Diamond Bar completed a fifth-and-11 pass to sustain the drive and scored the winning touchdown on a five-yard run with 19 seconds to play.

Salter contacted Bill Clark, an assistant commissioner at the section, and requested Upland be recognized as co-champion.

“The mechanics of what happened is what we are reviewing,” Clark said. “We are hoping we can get it resolved by Friday.

“It’s a most regrettable situation. . . . We are very disappointed by the action of the officials. There will be some sanctions against these officials.”

Clark wouldn’t discuss specific sanctions or speculate on the outcome of the appeal. He said the review includes how to safeguard against similar blunders in the future.

For now, the section should live by its code of ethics, which partly says: “It is the duty of all concerned with high school athletics. . . to emphasize the proper ideals of sportsmanship, ethical conduct and fair play.”

There was nothing fair about a team getting a fifth down because of incompetence by officials or, worse, mightier-than-thou attitudes. It’s mind-boggling that five officials can lose track of downs and compound the mistake by not stopping the game, sorting things out and making the correct decision.

It would be wrong to ignore the mistake and it would be illogical to replay the game from the point in question, so the proper course would be to declare Upland co-champion. It doesn’t diminish what Diamond Bar accomplished and it gives Upland a fair shake.

“For the most part, the referees do a real good job of controlling the game,” said Westlake Coach Jim Benkert, who last week guided the Warriors to the Division IV championship. “But there’s no changing the [officials’ minds]. Believe me, I know.”

The players and coaches victimized in the two most infamous fifth-down blunders also knew.

In 1934, Cornell defeated Dartmouth on a fifth down awarded by referee Red Friesell. When the mistake was uncovered, Cornell refused the victory on sportsmanship.

Friesell was ridiculed, even by the Ivy League commissioner, who sent the official a telegram reading: “Don’t let it get you down, down, down, down, down.”

In 1990, Colorado stole one from Missouri, scoring the winning touchdown on a fifth-down play. The seven Big Eight officials who worked the game were temporarily suspended, but the result stood.

Bill McCartney, then the Colorado coach and founder of the Christian men’s group Promise Keepers, said the notion of forfeiting the game to Missouri was “absurd.”

At least one instance of a fifth-down boo-boo involving colleges from the region comes to mind. Six years ago, Valley received an inconsequential fifth down against Pierce, which never can afford such generosity given to an opponent.

The 10 years that have passed since Welch was stung in Santa Barbara have soothed some of the pain, even to the point of the veteran coach cutting officials some slack.

“I’ve never coached a football game in which I haven’t made a mistake,” Welch said. “If the official makes a mistake, that shows their humanity.”