After further review, video replay will be allowed for GHSA football state championship games starting this fall. A unanimous vote in favor of Video Review was recorded at a Georgia High School Association meeting this week in Macon.
After years of replay being a topic of conversation , a missed call by an official in last season's AAA state final between Cedar Grove and Sandy Creek forced the issue to be addressed by the state's governing body. Starting with the 2023 season, video review will be used for state championship games. This change also coincides with a change in venue , as the championship games will be moving from Georgia State's Center Parc Stadium to Mercedes Benz Stadium.
"Our goal was to get it right," says GHSA Executive Director Dr. Robin Hines."The move to the Benz will help. We expected it to be a unanimous vote, because he had not talked to anyone who was opposed to it , including the officials. We’re pleased with the protocols that we’ve come up with and look forward to implementing them."
Games with Video Review will require three additional officials, a Video Review Official, a Communicator, and a Sideline Replay Assistant. The head coach will be able to toss a red flag to challenge a call once per half. No timeout will be charged for a challange. The review official will have two minutes to review the play in question and render a decision. No replay will be allowed in the stadium during this two minute review period. Once the review is done, the play can be shown again.
State officials, coaches , players and fans will get their first taste of Video Review when the Corky Kell Classic brings four season opening contests to Mercedes Benz Stadium on August 19th. The first game that day will feature Marietta against Norcross and will kickoff at 10am . It will be the battle of the Blue Devils and Keith Maloof will be starting his 25th season as head coach at Norcross.The coach feels that Video Review will be positive for high school football in Georgia.
"How many times in our game do we need to do it, I don’t know," says Maloof. I think over all the officials are good. I think calls like the game where they called a touchdown and it wasn’t a touchdown , that’s big ! In games like we played against Mill Creek last year , there was about 3 or 4 50/50 calls, that could have gone either way. I think it’s going to be pretty cool to know that we have that option to challenge a call in a big situation. "
Don't forget to listen to the Corky Kell Classic on August 19th from Mercedes Benz Stadium on Sports Radio 92.9 The Game.