LIBERTY, Mo. — Technology already plays an increasingly important role in high school football, but next season will mark the first time the Missouri State High School Activities Association will allow instant replay in its state championship games.
“I started in the time of big VHS cameras and trading (VHS tapes) the next morning with other coaches,” Liberty High School football coach Chad Frigon said. “... Technology has come so far in football in many different aspects, but film is probably the biggest one.”
After every drive, football teams today can immediately rewatch the previous series on the sideline.
“Whether it's a three-and-out or a long drive for a touchdown, we're immediately going to what we call a tent, where we have a TV set up and watching the replay for in-game adjustments and in-game film,” Blue Jays senior left guard Jonathan Pearcy said.
It can be hard to decipher the chaos of a football game from field level in the moment, but technology allows coaches and players to assess things quickly and accurately during a game.
“It 100% elevates my game and elevates my teammates' game,” Liberty senior linebacker/tight end Brooks Ragland said. “When we're on the sidelines and we're all sitting there together watching film of a play that just broke down, where we may have gotten beat, it helps for all of us to conversate on what could have been better, who could have been where, just to talk it through with each other and then come together the next play make sure it doesn't happen again.”
During Show-Me Bowl games, Missouri high school officials will have the same luxury when deciding state champions.
Under proposed MSHSAA guidelines for next season, a replay official will be able to initiate reviews of obvious errors from the booth. The system was tested during the Missouri 8-Man title game last fall in St. Joseph.
“It's (replay) been effective at the pro and the college levels,” Frigon said. ‘If technology allows it, it is something that could help out our high school game, just make games run more efficiently and be correctly officiated.”
Players also are excited about the change.
“I really like it,” Pearcy said, “It just adds that extra layer of security for teams in ensuring that officiating is done right.”
Ragland agreed: “You can never really put a game on a ref, but to have that cushion, just in case there is a final play to happen to where you kind of leave it up, like, what would have happened if the call would have changed? It definitely helps to have that there as a cushion just in case something goes wrong.”
Liberty, which reached the Class 6 semifinals last season, returns 36 seniors and expects to contend for a state crown this fall.
Instant replay won’t be used to re-officiate the game and officials don’t want it to impact the pace of play, but everyone agrees that it’s important to get things right when possible.
“It’s a huge investment for all of our athletes, no matter who you're playing for,” Frigon said. “When you come out and you have one of those 10 nights that you prepare the entire year for, you want to have things officiated correctly. I think it's important to remember that this isn't to overturn calls or officiate regular plays. The system looks like it's in place to do things that are obvious and correctable errors that have a have a substantial outcome on the end of the game.”
Frigon hopes the system could expand beyond state title games someday.
“Obviously, I'd hope, yeah, if it could be used in regular season games, it'd be great,” Frigon said..” Right now, sideline replay is legal to use as a coaching tool on the sidelines. ... I don't know if that's something that officials can tap into, that technology right there that most schools already have, and be able to use that as part of the new replay system.”
For now, Ragland and Pearcy hope they get to play in a game when it’s used, because that would mean they’re playing in the Missouri Class 6 championship game.
“We believe we have the team this year to do it, so I'm really excited and hoping I get to see it, really hoping we get to use it this year. That'd be great, especially if you're in the state championship game.”
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