Williamson High School's 100-0 blowout of Murphy High School in Mobile, Ala., last week has some questioning the state's mercy rule.
Williamson was up 73-0 at halftime and exited the game 6-0, scoring 311 points on the season so far.
Alabama's current rule does not impose a running clock rule once a game reaches a 35-point deficit.
According to NBC News, under the state's "mercy rule," the clock only stops for scores, timeouts, injuries or the end of a quarter, allowing the game to end quicker. However, the Alabama High School Association allows for that rule to be skipped until the fourth quarter.
Coaches are allowed to agree to a running clock to start the second half, but Murphy's coach did not consent.
“I wanted to run the clock,” Williamson head coach Antonio Coleman told AL.com. “I asked the ref. He said OK. He asked me if I had a problem going to eight minutes. I said no.
“He went to ask (Murphy head coach Sherman (Williams) and he said he didn’t want to run the clock.”
Coleman said he had a handshake Sherman after the game but doesn't understand what happened.
“They finally started running the clock in the fourth quarter,” he added. “I was just trying ot get out of the game. I never experienced anything like that. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt.”
The scoring mark is the 19th time in Alabama high school football history that a team has went for 100 points or more. The last was in 1970 when Keith downed Alabama Industrial, 122-0.
