A Long Island High School Football Coach Was Suspended For Running Up The Score After Beating An Undefeated Team 61-13
FOX 5- Plainedge High School head football coach Rob Shaver has been suspended for one game after allegedly failing to follow a lopsided scores policy. It mandates that coaches of football teams in Nassau County that win by more than 42 points explain what they did to prevent running up the score in an unsportsmanlike fashion.
The game in question was played last Friday night between Plainedge and South Side, both 6–0 teams. The outcome was a 61–13 victory for Plainedge. Pat Pizzarelli, the executive director of Section VIII Athletics, the association that oversees middle and high school sports in the county, said the rule was voted on three years ago as a way to keep scores closer and not embarrass the other team. "Their first team played in the fourth quarter… and I think that's what swayed the committee," Pizzarelli said. "Is it worth beating a team 70–0? Isn't 30 or 40 points enough?"
Ahhhhh, nothing like the smell of pussification on a crisp fall morning. I feel like we have become numb to stories like these over the years. But that still doesn't mean that passing a rule that says a coach has to defend why he was coaching to keep scoring points in a football game against another undefeated team just because his team was up 6 touchdowns. You wouldn't ask a lion why he kept fighting against another lion, no matter how banged up that lion was. You saw what Scar did to Simba in the Battle of Pride Rock after he bent the knee. I've been told by Football Guys and Football Guys Guys that football is about emotion, strategy, execution, and beating your opponent. Not people going in front of a committee to plead your case (unless you are Boltman).
The craziest part of all this wasn't the Patriots taking on a team of Barstool bloggers. It was a 1 vs. 2 showdown of two 6-0 teams. Has this committee ever even watched an episode of Friday Night Lights? I've seen way too many big leads get blown in a big game to say that 42 points is insurmountable. A touchdown here, a turnover there, and by the time the rock music starts playing at the end of the 4th quarter, your team is now the team with its first loss. If you want to prevent teams from running up the score on a bunch of high school kids, make a mercy rule once a certain lead is reached. Yeah it goes against literally every single thing we know about the spirit football. But so does a bunch of people in suits on a committee telling a football coach how and who he can play once his team has the high ground.
Then again, you can tell the opposing coach is still upset by this glaring lack of sportsmanship.
In a phone interview, South Side coach Phil Onesto said he had no issues with the game. "I had no issues with how he was running his team," he said. "Even after the game, Coach Shaver and I, we spoke and there was no bad blood. I congratulated him on the win and wished him luck next week."
Oh wait, he's perfectly fine with it because it's high school football. Not pee wee football where nobody keeps score and orange slices are brought for both teams. But the highest level of football most of those kids will play. If anything, I bet that coach is embarrassed his team got its doors blown off to the point it's become news. Good job by the Pussification Committee on that one. Or that this was the last touchdown scored by the starters before the Plainedge coach put in some backups at 11:12 in the 4th quarter.
Followed by this touchdown scored by the backup.
As well as Plainedge apparently allowing their opponents to have the ball at the start of the game and the 2nd half, their starters playing 17 plays the last two weeks total, and have only played 15 of 28 quarters together this year. You know what? I'm officially outlawing the phrase Strong Island to ever be uttered by any Long Islander living in Nassau County as long as this sissy 42 point rule is in effect.
CASE CLOSED!!!
