The whole idea of running up the final score on an opposing team has divided sports fans for years. Some say it’s all part of the game, while others feel it is rubbing it in the other teams’ face and encourages unsportsmanlike conduct. One coach from New York state is feeling the wrath of a controversial ruling that has some questioning a little known county policy.
A Nassau County high school football coach was suspended for one game after some feel he deliberately ran up the score on another team. Plainedge’s Rob Shaver beat South Side 63-13, October 25. According to Fox NY, there is a mandate in Nassau County that if a team best an opposing team by more than 42 points, then they have to explain their actions. Fox reports that Shaver still had his starting players in the game well into the fourth quarter, and that’s what swayed the committee to suspend him.
Parents defended Shaver, referring to him a “honorable, stand-up guy”. Even the South Side head coach defended him, saying there was no bad blood.
Ironically, South Side high school was undefeated before entering this game.
