In the NFL, a player can score a touchdown, spike the ball,

Published 8:00 am Friday, December 3, 2010

In the NFL, a player can score a touchdown, spike the ball, then dance the entire “Thriller” routine without getting flagged for excessive celebration. In college and high school football, the rules are much tighter. Still, when Tumwater High School running back Ronnie Hastie was penalized for kneeling and pointing his finger skyward after his 17th touchdown of the year on Monday, a lot of folks thought the ref should be flagged. Now the organization that oversees high school football in the state wants to take another look at the penalty.The game was a semifinal match between the Tumwater Thunderbirds and the East Valley Knights at the Tacoma Dome. The play was a gorgeous 23-yard run up the gut, in which Hastie shook two tackles and marched into the end zone where he completed the offending gesture.In an interview after the game with the Olympian, Hastie said he was doing what seemed to be obvious: giving the old “nice one, mate” to the man upstairs.”It’s my way of giving glory to God, not to myself,” Hastie said. “I want to give God the credit.”The AP

reports on Thursday, however, that the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association will be taking another look to see if the ref was right in flagging the kid.We’re hoping the WIAA can get the Cincinnati Bengals’ Chad Ochocinco on as a guest panelist to help them decide.Here’s the play (at the 26 second mark), in case you missed it.