Highly controversial blown call ends win streak and could have major playoff implications as top 15 team falls

If there was a Hall of Fame of blown calls, this one would be a first-ballot selection.

Hope (D-III - MI) entered their matchup with league-foe Alma (D-III - MI) the defending champions of Michigan Collegiate Athletic Conference and on a 16-game winning streak in the league. The Flying Dutchmen's last loss came at the hands of the Scots, 25-17 back in mid-October of 2023.

The past two conference titles had been won by Hope (2024 champs) and Alma (2023 champs before making a playoff run to the D-III quarterfinalist) so Saturday's game was poised to be a hotly contested matchup, and it lived up to the billing from the jump.

In a back-and-forth game, #15 Hope sent the game to overtime with a 15-play, 70-yard drive after junior quarterback Alex Thole dramatically hurdled a defender for a six-yard touchdown run.

After a PAT sent the game to OT, Alma won the toss and went on defense first. Hope failed to pick up a first-down and sent their kicker out to attempt his longest field goal of the season, where he nailed the 30-yarder to give Hope a 26-23 lead.

On the second play of Alma's possession in overtime is where things got really interesting.

The Scots pulled out a trick play, motioning their off-the-ball tight end out to the field's two-receiver side before star quarterback Carter St. John threw the ball to the slot receiver, who then lateraled it to the running back swinging out of the backfield. That lateral was dropped by the running back, and a Hope defender jumped on the loose ball, sparking a rush of the field from the Hope sideline who believed they had just won the game.

However, officials met and determined the result of the play was - get this - an incomplete pass.

Here are two angles of the play in question.

Two plays later, a pass from Alma was tipped into the air and caught in the back of the end zone Alma tight end Miles Haggart for the winning touchdown.

Hope head coach Peter Stuursma, who took over the program in 2016 after a Hall of Fame high school head coaching career at East Grand Rapids HS (MI) that included five-straight state, said after the game he'd never seen anything like it in nearly three decades as ahead coach.

"I've never seen it in 26 years of being a head coach. We didn't do enough to win the game in overtime. I said to our guys, 'That's not going to define us as who we are or what we're about.' We just didn't have enough. We didn't have enough to make a play when it mattered."

The NCAA rulebook states that there are three main parts to defining a catch. For a catch to occur, the player: 

1) secures firm control with the hand(s) or arm(s) of a live ball in flight before the ball touches the ground, and
2) touches the ground in bounds with any part of his body, and then
3) maintains control of the ball long enough to enable that player to perform an act common to the game, i.e. long enough to pitch or hand the ball, advance it, avoid or ward off an opponent, etc.

The Alma receiver clearly caught the ball and was able to pitch it backward to another player, thus defining a catch.

Just last week we witnessed the SEC come out with a statement on a blown call by officials, and many are left wondering if the MIAA will do the same at the small college level.

Though, an official statement won't undo the ultimate result of the game. The Division III level awards playoff spots to conference champions, with just a few at-large playoff bids awarded, oftentimes with those going to the ultra-tough leagues like the CCIW, OAC, or WIAC.

If Alma and Hope are both able to handle their business and win-out, here's to hoping their September overtime matchup ensures the non-conference champ earns an at-large spot for the Division III playoff and that missed call doesn't rob a roster and staff of an opportunity to compete for another weekend - and perhaps - a national title.