CONTROVERSY!

 

     Colorado high schools that play football are divided into seven groups.  The biggest schools are 5A, then 4A, 3A, 2A and 1A.  After that come the smallest schools which play 8-man and finally 6-man football.  I have never seen an 8-man or a 6-man game, but they tend to be higher scoring than 11-man.  I do not know the rules for 6-man.  How many down linemen are there?  Is everyone eligible like in pick-up games?  Is the quarterback the only backfield player?  I suppose the rules are on the internet somewhere, but I haven’t bothered to look.

   Some of the schools Wiggins played in basketball when I was in high school played 6-man.  These schools typically had graduating classes of fewer than 10 and school populations on the Eastern Plains have fallen over the years.  Despite their small size, we often lost to them in basketball.

   This past weekend, a six-man game has caused great controversy.  The two opponents were Pawnee High School located in Grover and Briggsdale High School located in Briggsdale.  These two schools share an unusual characteristic:  Since I was in high school, both schools have changed their mascot.  Pawnee used to be the Jackrabbits, now they are the Coyotes.  Briggsdale used to be the Rams, now they are the Falcons.  I sort of understand the Pawnee change, but I do not understand the Briggsdale change at all.  Whatever happened to tradition? Maybe the girls at Briggsdale didn’t like being called Rams.

   Here is the controversy.  I think the game was played in Grover, but I am not sure of that.  Anyway, the scoreboard at the end of the game read Pawnee 62; Briggsdale 57.  However, someone from Briggsdale taped the game and in watching the tape found that the actual score was Briggsdale 57  Pawnee 56.   Did no one at the game, coach, player, cheerleader or fan, notice that the scoreboard was wrong?  Maybe it is hard on a Friday night to keep track of so many points, but still you would think at least one of the cheerleaders would have noticed.

   This discrepancy is not insignificant.  There are not a lot of 6-man football teams and these two are in the same league.  The outcome of this game has serious implications in determining who will make the state tournament.  Since there are so few teams, the polls show only the top eight 6-man teams.  And the current poll has the top seven listed, then for #8 it has “The winner of the Pawnee – Briggsdale Game”.  So these are top teams that are involved. 

   It seems an easy solution.  If the tape shows that Briggsdale won, then they won.  But it might not be so easy.  What if Pawnee had the ball at the end of the game and just ran out the clock instead of trying to score?  The score of the game obviously dictates strategy.

   So will it be the Jackrabbits turned Coyotes or the Rams turned Falcons who will be given the victory and the #8 ranking in the polls?  I’ll have the answer for you in October.

 

     

Jezu, ufam Tobie.        

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