By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
If Forrest City Mustang Coach Donnie Willis thought that the officiating of Friday's night's game against Jonesboro was painful to watch from the sidelines as the game unfolded he found it even more unsettling after watching the film over the weekend.
"Watching the film, it was probably worse," Willis said. "It clearly reflected the poor officiating, especially concerning the fumble and the inadvertent whistle."
Willis said a copy of the film is being sent to the Arkansas Activities Association and to the AAAAA-East Conference, which assign the officiating crews.
Mike Bender, Forrest City athletic director, said the school is filing a formal complaint and is making a formal request that the crew that officiated Friday's game not be scheduled to work in Forrest City again.
"I believe the crew was from the Conway area," Bender said. "I think it would be an injustice for that same crew to work another one of our games. It would be an injustice for our kids to have to see them again, knowing what happened last Friday."
Bender said he understands that there aren't enough officials for all of the games scheduled which means some of them are working almost every night of the week -- from the junior high games to the college games.
"That makes it tough," Bender said. "It's not an excuse, but I know that by the time Friday rolls around, they are probably tired."
Both Willis and Bender said the tape clearly showed the first-half fumble by Jonesboro's Cowan Hutson -- following a Mustang punt -- was indeed a fumble at the Jonesboro 20.
Forrest City's Lee Bonner picked up the loose football and ran in in for the touchdown.
The touchdown was brought back as the officials ruled that a muffed punt can't be advanced but gave possession to Forrest City.
After a lengthy discussion with Joneboro coach Jim DeVazier, the official, without talking to any of the other members of the crew, gave possession back to the Hurricane.
"That probably bothered me more than any of the other calls," Willis said. "It almost appears that the one official let himself be talked into changing the call by the Jonesboro staff."
Willis also said the film clearly showed a missed pass interference call against Jonesboro on the third down play preceding the muffed punt.
About the controversial "inadvertent whistle" Willis said the whistle is audible on the tape and comes just as the ball reaches the hands of Bonner, the receiver on the touchdown pass from quarterback Ben Horton, who was scrambling and appeared to be in trouble when he ducked under a Jonesboro defender and then launched the throw to Bonner.
After a meeting at midfield, the same official called the touchdown back after apologizing to Willis and admitting the whistle was blown in error.
The Mustangs still managed to put themselves in a position to win the game in the fourth quarter.
"But," Willis said. "We have to let the AAA review everything and now we have to move on to get ready for Searcy on Friday. As a coaching staff, we have to get the players minds focused on Searcy, which now becomes a very important road game for this team."
Like Forrest City, Searcy will be looking for its first conference win after falling to Cabot 28-14 last Friday. Both teams are 0-1 in the league but while the Mustangs are 2-2 overall, the Lions are 1-2-1 for the year.
Despite the loss to Jonesboro, Willis said he was very excited with the play of Horton, the junior who was making his first varsity start at quarterback, after coming off the bench against Osceola the week before and sparking the offense to a win.
"Ben gave us a great effort," Willis said. "He made the plays when he needed too and he did his best to keep us in the game. The job is his."
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Forrest City junior varsity Mustangs remained unbeaten Monday night after playing Wynne's JV to a 7-7 tie at Sam Smith Stadium.
The JV Mustangs are 3-0-1 for the year with three games remaining on the schedule.
Tonight, the Forrest City seventh and eighth-grade Mustang teams will travel to Wynne for a pair of games beginning at 5 p.m.
The seventh-graders are 1-2 for the year with their lone victory coming against Wynne.
The eighth-grade team is 1-2 as well.
Tonight's game is the first road trip for the two teams. The seventh-grade has two playing dates remaining after tonight while the eighth-graders have three games left.
On Thursday, the Forrest City Junior High Mustangs, 2-1-1 overall and 2-0 in the AAAAA-East Conference, will host unbeaten Jonesboro Annie Camp at 7 p.m., at Sam Smith Stadium.
"This is a big game for us," Junior Mustang Coach Rich Trail said. "The team is coming off a big win over West Memphis West last week and now a win over Annie Camp would put us in the conference driver's seat."