2 million views on social media
Champion’s wide receiver Brogan Dempsey’s first touchdown catch against Pharr-San Juan-Alamo North last Friday in Laredo has blown up on the internet.
On the play in question, Dempsey hauled in a long pass from Julian Navarette, took a couple of steps, had the ball stripped, picked up the loose ball and then ran it into the end zone for a touchdown on the first play of the game.
PSJA-North players and fans, and especially the coach, thought it was an incomplete pass, but the officials let the original call stand and ruled it a touchdown, drawing boos from the Raiders fans.
There were also a few other calls that day that affected both teams. The Chargers had another Dempsey TD called back on an illegal formation penalty, while the Raiders thought they had recovered a fumble deep in Champion territory only to have the officials rule the ground caused the fumble and therefore it wasn’t a turnover.
Raiders’ fans also thought the Chargers were given a favorable spot on a 4th-down play. PSJA- North fans thought the team had stopped a Charger receiver short of the first-down marker on a catch and would be given the ball, but instead Champion was awarded a first down. That also drew boos from the crowd.
Chargers coach Blane Ellis said there were calls that affected both sides and said there were lessons to be learned from the game.
“I told the team to focus on what we can control,” he said. “I told them we had to go about our business and focus on the job we had to do, and I had to do the same thing. I said it applied to everybody in the room, and I meant is as much for me as anybody.”
One post on Twitter or X of the Dempsey catch, fumble and touchdown, received 2 million views, with a bunch of comments.
Some said it was “the worst call ever made” while others agreed with the officials and said it was a fumble.
“That’s the world we live in today,” Ellis said. “Give it a day or two and people will forget
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