Late-game scenario in Muskego-Waukesha West not the fault of officials

Anyone who attended or saw the Waukesha West-Muskego game on local television got a treat Thursday night, with a walk-off winner giving West a huge Classic 8 victory.

It came attached with some controversy.

On the final drive and needing a touchdown with the score in favor of Muskego, 24-20, Waukesha West took a patient approach, sticking to its running game and workhorse Peter MacCudden, who amassed 200 all-purpose yards. He helped bring West to the doorstep, but Muskego's defense rose to the occasion when it mattered and stuffed two goal-line runs.

West was out of timeouts, and the clock continued to run inside of 10 seconds. It appeared the Wolverines would not have enough time to get off one last play, as MacCudden was slow to get up. The referee stopped the clock with 4.6 seconds left so trainers could attend to MacCudden, which, of course, gave West a chance to get somewhat set at the line. Once MacCudden was ushered off the field, West frantically snapped the ball again, and quarterback Robert Kobza reached over the goal line for the game-winning touchdown. West prevailed, 26-24.

I tried talking this through with one area official, and there's a lot to digest. The obvious suspicion, from Muskego's perspective, would be that MacCudden embellished the injury and necessitated the clock stoppage to enable one last play. There's a risk there, of course -- if it's a premeditated move, West would be throwing away a chance at one last scramble to the line while trusting that the refs would, in fact, blow the play dead. With less than 10 seconds to make that snap judgment, that's not a sure thing. Furthermore, West would be compelled to play without its best player on the biggest snap of the night, since any stoppage would require the player to sit out at least one play.

Of course, it's naive to think teams and players don't think about the advantages in this area and don't discuss those scenarios on the sideline.

MacCudden had been dealing with leg cramps in the second half and wasn't on the field for key drives in the second half, so it's at least plausible that MacCudden was, in fact, feeling pain. He did, however, try to wave away the trainer when he finally got to his feet. It appeared the side judge, with at least 11 seconds on the clock, moved in to try and remove a Muskego defender from on top of MacCudden, so there was a chance for him to assess the situation. If a defender holds a player down longer than the play, that could also lead to a whistle and clock stoppage.

Refs are expected to stop the clock if a player is injured, and there's naturally no way for them to measure intent. Even if those last five seconds dripped off the clock because an official simply wasn't sure if it was right to stop the clock in that moment, there's a chance MacCudden's injury is serious, and that would leave an official with serious egg on his face. It's the same thing with lightning delays late in a game -- officials can't ignore those letter-of-the-law rules, even if it's convenient otherwise.

It's a bad situation, even if nobody was to blame. Those extra 4.6 seconds definitely played a role in West's ability to get the snap off on the game-winning play. Either way, it was a great game, and both teams showed they are once again among the area's elite.

Meanwhile, reporter Andrew Gruman has made a habit of watching controversial, buzzer-beating games this season.