"Cheaters Never Win"
 

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.

Canadian Ruling
 

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!

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.

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?

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.

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.

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."

What's the Penalty?
 

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.

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. :D

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.

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

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.

Not sure if anyone else who has replied is from GA or not. I am (although a different part of the state so I'm not familiar with the crew or the schools). This definitely a 6 man crew which is what we work for most varsity games.

I agree with Bob M. It looks to me like the sneak entered behind the FJ. The BJ (what GA calls the other deep official even though he works the sideline not the middle like in a 5 or 7 man crew) COULD have seen this from the opposite side of the field but might not have since his initial key is the widest man on his side of the formation.

I think the FJ should have realized something funny was going on when the QB threw deep down his side even though all 3 receivers on his side broke their patterns off short. Still, not an easy foul to catch. To be honest I don't know that I would have caught it either. Shame on the coaching staff for trying it.

I wonder if Effingham sent this to the GHSA and what they might do about it. It definitely deserves a penalty stronger than the 15 yards we would have hit them with. Everyone else hit the nail on the head. This guy is teaching his kids that its OK to cheat. I think more coaches need to live by the Coaches Code of Ethics. I wonder if this guy evens knows that such a thing exists.

Maybe I am missing something. Aren't downfield officials suppose to spot their eligibles?

That being the case, the official should have seen he had trips and they ran short patterns. OK, so maybe an eligible from the opposite side ran a crossing pattern -- that did not happen in this case.

There should have been a flag for an ineligible downfield -- the player who ran off to the sidelines -- as he was covered.

How about the official on the opposite side of the field? He had one eligible who just kind of ran a leisurely fly pattern.

This kind of stuff is hard to catch but the crew did miss the ineligible going downfield. The R was on the left side of a right-handed QB. One rule error and one mechanical error on the same play.

But my pet peeve, players standing on the sidelines allowed this to happen. If the players had been properly positioned in the box it would have been harder for the player to leave the field as he did and another player to enter downfield without being noticed.

Updated Article
 

From the Augusta Chronicle:
Coach is safe from firing
By Billy Byler | Columbia County Bureau
Friday, November 09, 2007
Lakeside High School's athletic director and football coach Jody Grooms will not be fired, Lakeside principal Dr. Jeff Carney said Thursday morning.

Grooms is under scrutiny after his team ran an illegal play on its final possession of a game last Friday at Effingham County. Carney said Grooms will be punished for the offense but would not lose his job. He would not specify the punishment.

"I'm not out to fire Jody," he said. "He made a poor decision, but this is so out of character for him. I have total faith in him that nothing like this will ever happen again."

Carney said he faxed a written report of the incident to the Georgia High School Association on Tuesday. Dennis Payne, the GHSA's associate director and administrator for football, said Wednesday he will make a recommendation after reviewing the report.

GHSA executive director Ralph Swearngin said he will not comment or make a decision on the incident until today at the earliest.

Lakeside's football team went 3-7 this year in Grooms' first season as head coach and athletic director. Payne said he couldn't recall any similar incident occuring in the GHSA in recent years.

This coach is also the A.D.?? What kind of ethical leadership can you expect from this guy? They need to at least relieve Ricky Bobby Jody of his A.D. duties. He's morally bankrupt.

Principal says coach will be disciplined...
 

Its linked on the Fed board too. Georgia uses 6 man crew.
http://www.nfhs.org/cgi-bin/ultimate...c;f=9;t=003052

"I will not cheat"
"I will not cheat"
"I will not cheat"
"I will not cheat"
"I will not cheat"
"I will not cheat"
"I will not cheat"
ad infinitum

I hope not.

In smaller schools it is not uncommon for the AD to be a head coach of a program. It can be a problem at times but in most cases it is just fine and there is never a problem. It is not the AD/Coach situation that is the problem, it is the individual coach's ethics.

I have no problem with the coach being the AD. I see that all the time in small schools. My point is that he is an administrator and he lacks a moral compass. If your principal did something like this, I doubt he'd retain credibility and trust among the staff. To me, this would be something like changing test scores so your school looks better. People don't select which areas of their lives in which they will be ethical or not. Just because he is a coach does not mean that we overlook him also being an administrator. This is far worse than running up the score v. taking a knee. This is cheating by one of the administrators in this school.

Punishment Announced
 

From the Savannah Morning News:

AUGUSTA - Lakeside High School will be fined $250 by the Georgia High School Association for the actions of the football team and head coach Jody Grooms involving a controversial play at the end of the team's final game of the season.

Dr. Ralph Swearngin, GHSA executive director, said he reviewed a written report from Lakeside and came to a final decision Friday. The punishment also included a "severe warning status" placed on Grooms until the end of the 2008 football season.

"That means any more sportsmanship problems would bring harsher penalties," Swearngin said. "We don't fine coaches in this type of situation. We fine the school."

Swearngin said he was surprised when he learned that a coach in the GHSA attempted such a play.

"Obviously, we're strongly opposed to that kind of action," he said. "This seemed like it was very out of character."

Lakeside principal Dr. Jeff Carney, who is out of town this weekend with the Lakeside cheerleading squad at the state competition in Columbus, said he hadn't seen the report from the GHSA, but an assistant told him the total fine was $250.

"We totally respect the decision from the GHSA," Carney said. "We knew we did something wrong, and we were going to be punished."

Grooms has already publicly apologized for the illegal play - a pass play where one receiver ran off the field and another receiver came from the sideline onto the field - that he called late in a game at Effingham County on Nov. 2. Carney said Thursday that Grooms will be punished but not fired by the school.