GHSA decision sends teams back on field Monday

DULUTH - An extremely rare decision to send the high school football teams from Dacula and Duluth back on the field Monday to replay the end of their Oct. 31 game may lead to more appeals of officials&#39; calls.<br> <br> The Georgia High School Association upheld Dacula&#39;s appeal of a misapplied call during the fourth quarter of its 17-14 loss to Duluth. The two teams will replay the final 11 minutes, 51 seconds of the game Monday at 7 p.m. at Duluth. When play is resumed, Duluth will hold a 10-7 lead.<br> <br> GHSA officials say they don&#39;t remember a prior situation where an upheld protest forced a game, or part of a game, to be replayed.<br> <br> Now there are concerns the ruling could lead to a wave of future protests.<br> <br> ``I think the state of Georgia has opened Pandora&#39;s box,&#39;&#39; Duluth coach Bill Shields told the Gwinnett Daily Post.<br> <br> ``People are going to be protesting plays left and right,&#39;&#39; said Berkmar coach Wendell Early.<br> <br> Others think the protest rule, Rule 2.93 in the GHSA&#39;s rule book, is a necessary evil to protect against the misinterpretation of rules by officials.<br> <br> GHSA executive director Ralph Swearngin said his office last upheld a protest ``five or six years ago&#39;&#39; for a baseball game.<br> <br> Swearngin said his office gets only five or six properly filed protests each school year.<br> <br> Many protests are not considered for review, because coaches don&#39;t follow GHSA protocol.<br> <br> The protest must be filed with the game officials at the first available opportunity in the game. In the Oct. 31 game, Dacula head coach Kevin Maloof had to notify the officials immediately that the game was being played under protest.<br> <br> The officials&#39; error also must have a direct bearing on the game. Duluth scored a touchdown on the drive in question for a 17-7 lead.<br> <br> The protest can&#39;t involve a matter of officials&#39; judgment. A missed holding call or a bad spot can&#39;t be appealed.<br> <br> Maloof argued correctly that a personal foul is a live-ball foul and that the officials shouldn&#39;t have marked it off as a dead-ball foul, which resulted in a first down for Duluth.<br> <br> ``There appears to be no dispute about the facts in this case,&#39;&#39; Swearngin said. ``The GHSA only had one choice, to uphold the appeal.&#39;&#39;