The football season hasn’t truly begun until Saguaro is embroiled in controversy, right? Even with polarizing former coach John Sanders now at Arizona State, the Sabercats found themselves in the spotlight again Friday night.
By all accounts, their first half against Tempe was contentious, as penalty flags were a common sight and injuries were, too. Things became quite heated late in the second quarter, when the third major injury to a Buffaloes player led to a Tempe coach’s ejection and the half to be called with 1:33 remaining on the clock. Instead of returning to the field for the third quarter trailing 31-0, the Buffaloes boarded their buses and went home, choosing a forfeit because their coaches believed Saguaro was intentionally trying to hurt their players.
Tempe principal Mark Yslas fanned the flames by sending out a letter to those associated with the school on Saturday, in which he said Saguaro was trying to injure the Tempe players on purpose and that “forfeiting last night’s game was not about getting beat on the scoreboard and being physically dominated, it was about recognizing that the opponent, in this case Saguaro High School, was not going to pursue victory with honor and they did not deserve to be on the same field with an honorable team like Tempe High.”
Saguaro coach Jason Mohns said after the game that "We're not out here trying to hurt anybody and I hope that's not the message that Tempe left with.” The Buffaloes clearly think differently and sent the game tape to the Arizona Interscholastic Association.
David Rubenzer, the father of Saguaro quarterback Luke Rubenzer, passed along the game tape and I watched it this afternoon.
My thoughts:
• On the opening kickoff, a Saguaro player took a cheap shot on a Tempe player who was standing out of bounds. The Saguaro player then celebrated the hit and a teammate taunted the Buffalo player. This was one of the two egregious plays I saw on the tape, and it set an ominous tone. There’s no excuse for the Saguaro player’s actions and it’s the type of display which has made so many teams angry with the Sabercats in the past.
• I thought two of the personal foul calls against Saguaro were iffy and two were deserved. While the Sabercats may have been guilty of being overaggressive, all four penalties seemed to be within the flow of the game.
• I completely understand why the Tempe coaches were upset when the first half was called. On the final play of the game, a punt by the Buffaloes, a Saguaro player deliberately took out a defenseless Tempe defender behind the line of scrimmage several moments after the punt had been booted. The player was ejected and it was well-deserved.
So, where do we stand? Well, the claim by Yslas that Saguaro had nine personal foul penalties and three unsportsmanlike penalties is almost certainly overblown. I counted six personal foul penalties, and even allowing for penalty flags outside the camera’s view, 12 seems high.
That being said, it’s easy to see why Tempe was upset. Two of the personal fouls were extreme cheap shots and have no place in the game. Add that to multiple injuries and a lopsided score, and emotions were certainly hot. However, the game did not look so out of hand that the second half couldn’t have been played. If Tempe put in its second string and waved the white flag, Saguaro would have gotten the message and backed off. It’s hard to blame the Sabercats for keeping up the intensity in the first half since Tempe came in 2-0 while Saguaro was only 1-1. The Sabercats wanted to send a message, but may have been a tad over-the-top in doing so.
As for potential ramifications, don’t expect Saguaro to receive any significant punishment from the AIA. When a player is ejected by an official, the AIA has always refused to hear an appeal because it is a judgment call. The same is true in reverse. If these penalties were called, the officials saw the plays and made a judgment call whether or not to eject the player, so the AIA won’t be able to change that.
Mohns told the Tribune after Friday's game that any cheap shots he sees from his players on film will be met with discipline, so it is possible he doles out his own punishment based on the actions I witnessed on the first and last plays of the game.
For years, Saguaro has been the Arizona high school version of the University of Miami. Lots of penalties, lots of swagger, and ultimately, lots of wins. However, this incident may lead to changes because Mohns cares more about the perception of the program than Sanders ever did.
I’m not trying to cast too much blame on the Sabercats, because outside of the two indefensible hits, Saguaro didn’t seem to be doing anything out of the ordinary. With adrenaline and tempers, kids do stupid things in games, but does that mean the whole team was trying to hurt Tempe’s players? Likely not. Tempe isn’t blameless, as having a coach run on the field and then packing up the team at halftime might not go over well with the AIA.
It’s an unfortunate situation all the way around, and one in which both sides can do plenty of second-guessing. Hopefully it becomes a learning moment for everyone and not the start of more bad blood.
Reach Kyle Odegard at (480) 898-6834 or kodegard@evtrib.com. Follow his blog at http://blogs.evtrib.com/varsityxtra, or find him on Twitter @Kyle_Odegard.
sss posted at 7:25 pm on Mon, Sep 10, 2012.
I'm please you took the time to view the film. There is still the matter of the Tempe principal/s public letter. He owes the Saguaro Community an apology for casting them as thugs. If you look at who was responsible for the two over the top hits you will see they are by one player. So why is it OK for the principal to make such generalized statements. He has no credibility as an educator until he makes a comment stating that he spoke prematurely and apologizes.
P diddy posted at 12:44 am on Tue, Sep 11, 2012.
No he doesn't !! If you have the rep of thug and play like "thugs" you might be a thug. I have coached football for a very long time and all my teams have or had great quickness and speed. They all play to the whistle and very hard. That was and still is, my teams calling card. We never in my years had that many flagrant personal foul calls in a season let alone a game. Not even a half of a game. I have no personal feeling for either team but is that how you want your team to act and treat this great game?
sss posted at 9:18 am on Tue, Sep 11, 2012.
P- Since you are so experienced, you must know that the refs can get carried away. I say you look at the film as I have and you will see the excessive number of flags cannot be a measure. I am not saying that all were not warranted but many were just plain mistakes...an admission by those refs bears this out. There were also some plays that may have included penalties that were not called for BOTH teams. You also must know that during a game injuries can occur. I am fed up with the likes of you and others making up in your little minds what was the intent. The Saguaro players have been on a superior training program since last December. They are extremely physical and explosive and if teams they play are not prepared then unfortunately they will not fare well no matter how fast and how hard they play. The Tempe coach, the Principal and you are wrong. The film does not make things up. If you would like the name of the trainers that developed this regiment, I am sure they would like to help your team also.
hadenough posted at 7:43 pm on Tue, Sep 11, 2012.
The AIA will sort this out. Tempe legislator Ed Ableser's demanding an investigation only fans the flames. Ableser needs to let the AIA do its job and quit politicking on the backs of high school football players hoping it will help his re-election.
RavenFan posted at 8:57 am on Thu, Sep 13, 2012.
On the surface, you would think the officials didn't manage this game well. I'm curious as to why they stopped the game with 1:33 left in the first half with half time so near. If in their judgement the game should have been stopped, then perhaps a suspension of the game was in order. I'm not sure NFHS football rules would permit this though. Was the player who delivered the cheap shot to the Tempe player standing out of bounds and then celebrated ejected? If not, then the officials created the situation and the end result is understandable. The player who committed this heinous assault should be suspended for the year! NFHS rules always put player's safety at a premium, unfortunately often competition clouds coaches and kids judgement.
soricobob posted at 4:47 am on Fri, Sep 14, 2012.
For those who think that the schools are to blame is as much a mistake as to think the referees are to blame. The culture that allows these feelings to fester and grow, coupled with the so-called state organizations in place to police such activities, are a joke! Too bad it came to this, but it was inevitable. Glad no one was seriously hurt, but our society has come to expect this kind of behavior. Wait until the steroid use comes to light.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 10:08 am on Fri, Sep 14, 2012.
WOW...THIS IS A ......H.U.G.E...NATIONAL AND EVEN INTERNATIONAL....STORY.
IT'S ALL OVER TV NEWS........YAHOO.........HAS IT ON IT'S FRONT PAGE RUNNING NATIONALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY ALL OVER THE WORLD.
EVEN SAW AN ARTICLE IN THE BRITISH PRESS.
THERE WILL BE VIDEO CAMERA'S AND EVEN SOME LOCAL TV CAMERA'S RECORDING EVERY SINGLE SAGUARO HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYER ..."HIT" ...FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON.......
wangly posted at 9:42 pm on Fri, Nov 9, 2012.
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