What do you do when you have a stadium filled with fans anticipating a great high school football showdown between rivals on a beautiful Missouri Friday evening and the game officials don’t show up?
You buy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Last Friday in Ashland, Mo., the teams from visiting Hallsville and the home team Southern Boone, were 30 minutes away from kickoff, wrapping up their pregame warm-ups when they noticed there were no officials. In fact, they, whoever they should have been, never showed up.
Fortunately, a crew from the nearby Eldon-Blair Oaks game offered to drive over and pull a double header. So the teams went into the school, parents ran to the store to buy snacks and both players and fans waited out an over three-hour delay. The game finally kicked off at 10:50 p.m. and didn’t end until Saturday morning at 1:30 a.m. Of course, the game had to go into Triple OT.
Jason West from MSHSAA joins me this week to explain this administrative fumble.
Plus, MSHSAA is keeping a close eye on the situation that took place in San Antonio, when two high school football players appeared to have run into an official on purpose, knocking him down. That official is considering pressing charges. There is a report that an assistant coach made a comment that may have led to the cheap shot. The two suspended players are saying racial slurs were thrown their way.
Jason tells us how MSHSAA can use this as a teaching moment for coaches in Missouri.