A contested call and heartbreaking game

Furman drops 22-17 game to Plymouth State in national title game

UTICA, New York -- Plymouth State scored on the final play of the National Division III championship game Sunday to defeat Furman 22-17.

With the game tied at 17 a Plymouth State player caught a pass from a teammate and dashed 30 meters for a try as time expired. A sideline referee ruled the reception an illegal forward pass but he was overruled by the head referee.

The non-call set off a flurry of protests from the Furman sideline and fans attending the game hosted by Hamilton College (Utica, New York). In another controversial call earlier in the contest, an apparent try by Furman winger Lane Hayes was reversed after an official ruled Hayes was out of bounds when he scored.

A photo of the play, taken by a fan, showed Hayes to be in bounds.

"It is devastating when a game of this magnitude is determined by questionable calls," said Furman coach John Roberts. "The team worked so hard to get to this point. To have it turn on controversial calls is crushing."

Senior Blair Barton put the Paladins ahead 3-0 with a drop-goal with 15 minutes remaining in the first half. Ten minutes later, Kyle Tenke blocked a Plymouth State kick and recovered the ball in the try zone. The try and successful conversion staked Furman to a 10-0 halftime lead.

Plymouth State, champion of the New England Rugby Union, opened the second half with a try to cut the Furman lead to 10-5. With 25 minutes remaining Furman's Zach Mullinax responded with a try to extend Furman's lead to 17-5 after a successful conversion by Barton.

Shortly thereafter Hayes was called out of bounds. Plymouth State seemed to grasp momentum from the call and scored two trys and a conversion to tie the game 17-17 with five minutes remaining.

With seconds remaining -- and an overtime looming -- an off-balance Plymouth player tossed a pass to an open teammate that was immediately called a forward pass by the nearby sideline official. After the Plymouth player dashed 30 meters for the score, the head referee overruled the sideline official's call as Plymouth celebrated in the try zone. slideshow

While Roberts is protesting the game with rugby league officials, he says the result will stand.

On Saturday, Furman scored three first-half trys and coasted past Widener College 31-21 slideshow to advance to the championship game against Plymouth, a 28-8 winner over Hamilton College. Keith Knowlton, Barton and Trey Atkinson scored trys for Furman.

Furman, which collected national titles from 2003-05, finished runner for the second consecutive year. Last year, the Paladins lost in the title game to Bentley College (Boston) 11-10.

The Paladins, 2008 Rugby South Champions, closed the season with a 16-4-1 record.