HS Football Coach Suspended for Running Up Score

A high school football coach in Long Island, N.Y., has been suspended under a three-year-old rule aimed at keeping teams from running up the score on their opponents. 

According to the New York Post, which cited reporting from Newsday, Plainedge High School head coach Rob Shaver has been suspended for one game under Nassau County’s “lopsided scores policy,” after a 61-13 win over South Shore last Friday night. 

Shaver is the first varsity coach to be penalized under the rule, which has been in effect for three seasons.

Plainedge took a 35-point lead into the fourth quarter in the game against South Side. Both teams were unbeaten going into the game, and Shave decided to keep his top players in the game. South Side coach Onesto said he had no issues with Shaver’s decision. 

“I had no issue with how the game went,” Onesto said. “I had spoken to coach Shaver, I told him I had no issues.”

Under the rules, because Plainedge won by more than 42 points, Shaver had to explain how he tried to keep the score under control. His reasoning was not accepted and as a result he will miss the Plainedge’s final regular-season game.

“They thought it was a mismanaged game, which my opinion is, that isn’t the rule,” Shaver said. “It should be: You ran up the score on purpose. That’s what the intent of the rule is for. 

“What made me the most upset, to be honest is, listen, if the South Side coach complained and said, ‘This guy definitely ran up the score on us,’ well, then they should investigate. Because that’s the intent of the rule. The spirit of the rule is to prevent better teams from running up on lesser programs and sportsmanship and dignity and all that stuff. I get it. That didn’t happen.”