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Fenwick Seeks To Overturn Plainfield North Football Win

(CBS) – Plainfield North High School is headed to the state championship football game after beating Fenwick High School, even though the referees made a bad call in the final seconds that allowed Plainfield to win the semifinal contest in overtime.

Now, Fenwick is asking a court to reverse that outcome of the weekend game. A court hearing is slated for Wednesday, school officials said.

Fenwick was called for intentional grounding on a fourth-down play deep in its own territory as the clock expired in the fourth quarter. The officials then gave Plainfield North one more play -- in which it kicked a game-tying field goal -- that it shouldn't have had. Plainfield North then went on to win 18-17 in overtime.

The quiet stillness outside Fenwick on Monday only masked the anger, frustration and raw emotion.

"I know how hard the kids worked since June for this moment," Fenwick parent Kevin Jackson tells CBS 2's Marissa Bailey. "This is their moment and it was taken away from them for no reason."

Even the head of the Illinois High School Association says the officials messed up and Fenwick should have won the game.

"I express my sincerest apologies to Coach Nudo and his players," IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson said. "There is no doubt the crew assigned to officiate this contest by the ISHA should have known this rule."

But according to IHSA rules, the game decision will not be changed.

Plainfield head coach Tim Kane said his team is proceeding this week "business as usual."

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