Plainedge (NY) and South Side (NY) met last weekend in an anticipated showdown between two unbeaten programs. What happened when the final buzzer sounded in that match up was something that few (if any) saw coming as Plainedge rolled to a 61-13 win.
In an interesting twist. Nassau County has a strange policy in place that they adopted about three years ago that says that if a team wins a game by more than 42 points, the winning coach has to explain to a special committee why such a large margin couldn't have been avoided.
Oh, it gets more ridiculous, as the NY Times points out.
The policy also subjects the winning team's head coach to a one-game suspension.
That six-person committee determined that Plainedge head coach Robert Shaver should have pulled his starters as the fourth quarter started, and so Shaver will miss the final regular season game for his team as he serves that suspension.
Shaver shared with Newsday that he feels he is being punished for how he chose to manage the game.
“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.”
“They thought it was a mismanaged game, which my opinion is, that isn’t the rule,” Shaver added.
Shaver shared that he kept his starters in up 35-points to begin the final quarter because, facing an undefeated opponent, he was afraid South Side could put together a comeback.
Most states have a mercy-rule running clock after a six touchdown lead or so, but this relatively new rule from Nassau County in New York is a rather interesting way to punish teams and coaches for running up the score, and one that I can't imagine many coaches being in favor of.