"Cheaters Never Win"

[TXMike]

Pretty easy to see one receiver leave the field although I can't see where the replacement ran on (but he is there at the end of the play somehow)

Link to video: http://link.brightcove.com/services/...ctid1297294534


From the Savannah Morning News:
Cheaters never win

Friday, November 9, 2007

Football coach who tried to cheat his way to a win deserves to lose his job.

IT'S NO wonder that Lakeside-Evans High School lost seven football games and won only three this year.

Even when they cheat, they're terrible at it.

Such was the case in Effingham County last Friday night.

That's when the team from Columbia County, near Augusta, embarrassed and belittled itself by attempting an illegal play in the waning seconds in a tight game against Effingham County High.

The Lakeside-Evans quarterback tossed a Hail Mary pass to a teammate who slipped onto the field from the sidelines near the end zone.

Fittingly, an Effingham defensive back picked it off.

Then the home team ran out the clock to preserve a hard-fought 7-0 victory and stay alive in the state playoff hunt.

For some inexplicable reason, the referees missed it.

Only after Effingham's coaches reviewed the game films this week did both schools find out that the visiting team tried to steal a touchdown.

Still, even if the subterfuge worked last Friday, what was Lakeside-Evans High Coach Jody Grooms thinking? That the refs wouldn't catch it? (He was right.)

That no one was filming the game, so he would get away with it?

(Wrong.)

That it's OK to teach young people how to cheat, because life is tough and rules are for suckers?

Time out for a reality check.

Yes, the sports pages frequently chronicle cheaters, dopers and others looking for an illegal edge.

So does the rest of the newspaper. And sadly, it's creeping into the nation's high schools.

The non-profit Josephson Institute, headed by Michael Josephson, who founded the national "Character Counts!" program, surveyed 5,275 high school athletes in 2005 and 2006.

Sadly, the results showed that coaches are teaching them how to bend, if not break, the rules to win.

Columbia County School Superintendent Charles Nagel said he talked with the principal at Lakeside-Evans about the coach.

Good.

Let's hope the principal delivers a pink slip. The last thing a losing program needs is a loser coach who cheats.

[JugglingReferee]

Nice story.

CANADIAN RULING:

Illegal.

Wow, that happens in Nebraska or Iowa, I would bet that the coach wouldn't even have time to pack his stuff from his office!

[Jim D]

Real class!

I heard of a story like this that wasn't discovered until after the season when one team was reviewing it's films. It seems like the opponent had been doing it all year.

On a kick off, the team would wait until the ball was kicked and had gone downfield. As everyone moved downfield, they would slip two extra players into the game. Since the official's attention was toward the ball and the return, they never got caught. The also never had a kick off returned very far.

[Ed Hickland]

Incredible!

Hope the coach is assigned to coaching the 5 and 6 year olds next year.

[waltjp]

Originally Posted by Ed Hickland

Incredible!

Hope the coach is assigned to coaching the 5 and 6 year olds next year.

Why? So he can train them early? This coach has forfeited his right to be anywhere near a football team.

Is it possible that nobody else associated with the team spoke out about this. No players? Coaches? Parents?

[wisref2]

Strangely enough - this happened to me when I played (a really long time ago) and I've never forgotten it. The team was killing us 50-something to nothing and they ran this play for a touchdown on my side (I was the safety). I knew what he had done and had some words with the coach. Almost impossible to catch this as an official - but I sometimes glance at the sideline as the WH to see if any offensive players are standing with their helmets on near the end of the team box - I just note their number in my mind. Funny how something like that sticks with you for 30+ years! Hmm, maybe I should just get over it.

[Jim D]

Originally Posted by wisref2

Strangely enough - this happened to me when I played (a really long time ago) and I've never forgotten it. The team was killing us 50-something to nothing and they ran this play for a touchdown on my side (I was the safety). I knew what he had done and had some words with the coach. Almost impossible to catch this as an official - but I sometimes glance at the sideline as the WH to see if any offensive players are standing with their helmets on near the end of the team box - I just note their number in my mind. Funny how something like that sticks with you for 30+ years! Hmm, maybe I should just get over it.

That's how we learn. I admit that if I were the wing on that side I probably would have missed it too. If nothing else, I would have been watching the receiver who deliberately ran out of bounds to make sure he wasn't going to sneak back in. I'd have to hope the BJ caught the other guy.

[Mike L]

Should have been seen, I mean it happens right in front of the deep sideline guy. And considering how quickly & how far the QB unloads it, unless that receiver was the Flash there is no way in hell he got down there legally.
I'd have a non-player IP call and some serious discussion on just how far we may be moving the ball up considering this guy made the tackle on the B who caught it with no legal A anywhere in sight.

[waltjp]

None of the receivers runs a route deeper than 10 yards. The illegal participant appears to enter the field from around B's 30 yard line. Another thing that amazed me is the position of the BJ. He's near the sideline looking in at the play. I'd expect him to be closer to the middle of the field or at least looking to the outside.

I shared the video with the rest of my crew. While discussing this my R stated the following, "That would not happen to us - our Back Judge and Wing officials are too sharp to let that occur!!"

My reply, "I wouldn't be too quick to claim that we wouldn't catch this infraction. Without looking back at the video, I believe it's the second receiver who went out of bounds. That would be the BJ's key and he'd probably see that. The next thing you know the QB is tossing a long pass and as you turn you see a receiver in position to make a play on the ball. We're all left scratching our heads and teasing our BJ for letting a receiver get behind him. I doubt that anyone would actually see the player come off the sideline."

[Ed Hickland]

For the player illegally entering the field during the down. Fifteen yard illegal participation foul.

Plus, fifteen yard unsportsmanlike conduct foul and disqualification on the head coach for making a travesty of the game. This had to be a planned play seeing the one player exit the field and act as though he was just standing on the sidelines and the downfield player appears to be coached.

While as officials we have no jurisdiction, the coaching staff should be fired as this act was totally devoid of sportsmanhip or morals.

Oh yes, did anyone notice the R was on the wrong side of the formation as the QB is right-handed.

[JugglingReferee]

If you're the BJ, you gotta think that something very screwy went wrong here. How could a player get behind you without you noticing? It's not like the kid had time to run way downfield on the other side of the field, then dance across so far behind you that your peripheral doesn't catch him.

I think that BJ should have had a red flag go up in his head. But I can see how if you're not 100% confident in your game, that your head is scratching on this one and you just think that you gotta eat the non-call.

However, I wouldn't expect the official to be fired over it.

Jim makes a good point to make sure the guy leaving the field doesn't come back in.

And why did the players knowingly get in on this play? Would they follow the coach if he jumped off a bridge?

I didn't watch the video the first time I posted. After reading some of the comments posted, I decided to take a look. Wow, any coach who does that should have his coaching endorsement or certificate taken away as well as terminated. Most coaching endorsement or certificate programs require an ethics class as part of the coursework.

OK, now off of that soapbox. It looks like this was a 6-whistle crew instead of 5. If so, I'm surprised the official on the sideline didn't catch this.

[RIRef]

HAHA he not only ran out of bounds, but he looked ineligible to go downfield

[Bob M.]

REPLY: I'm with Ref Ump Welsch on this one. Clearly a 6-man crew. I'm sure that the side judge was not in a position to see the 'sneak' enter the field (behind him), but he had to wondering afterwards how he possibly could have gotten where he was without passing him. His curiosity was probably not enough for him to drop a flag, but I can imagine that the first question this crew asked after the game ended was "Where the %$@# did he come from?"

Also note how the coach camouflaged the sneak by positioning a bunch of teammates down in that area, just so that the sneak wouldn't stand out.