In week three of the high school football season a pair of monster hits drew personal foul penalties despite both appearing to be clean plays.
In such situations the physicality of football is challenged by political correctness. Players making a legal block were penalized for making a hard hit. The consensus among fans watching both plays went something like this: officials are conditioned to throw a flag even when play is within the rules under the pretense of player protection. The National Football League started this trend once they discovered women watching the sport were horrified by the severity of blows.
The reality is football is a violent sport and the principle manner of both scoring a touchdown and defending a goal involves contact. Defenders have to stop advancement of the football by tackling the ball-carrier and offenses must clear a path to the goal by knocking defenders out of the way. Nothing less is expected.
In the third period of Farmington's 22-16 junior high win over Pea Ridge on Sept. 17, Reid Turner had a 65-yard touchdown romp called back because of political correctness. In an electrifying run he reversed field twice. One last Pea Ridge defender had a shot at him and was moving in to make a tackle when one of Turner's teammates smeared the Blackhawk into the turf enabling the run to continue.
On Sept. 18 Farmington (5A) traveled to Van Buren (7A) for a nonconference contest. In the second quarter the Pointers appeared to have successfully overcome a third and 13 situation with a complete pass to Brad Rodriguez, who picked up blocks downfield after making the catch. The play went for 36 yards from Van Buren's 30 to the Farmington 34. Rodriguez' reception occurred at the Pointer 41 and one of his teammates sprung him for additional yardage by smacking a Cardinal defender, who was about to make a tackle. The hit was hard, yet legal, none-the-less drawing a flag and ruled helmet-to-helmet.
Neither block fit the definition of a crack-back block or chop-block, yet both plays were called back. In an era of political correctness the rationale of football has been twisted where there are instances when no good block goes unpunished.
In week four as he prepared for the opening of the 4A-1 Conference season against his mentor, Tommy Tice, of Huntsville, Prairie Grove coach Danny Abshier talked about molding the integrity of players through positive re-enforcement and self-discipline.
"It's more than just about winning," Abshier said. "If we can use football as a teaching tool to grow boys into stronger men and have compassion at the same time, having respect for your opponent, if there's a free shot at an opponent you pass that up, you don't take it."
A textbook example of what Abshier doesn't want to see in the sport occurred during Farmington's 32-12 loss at Van Buren in week three. After a pair of incomplete passes the Cardinals punted from their own 35 on fourth and 5. A fair catch was signaled by Van Buren's return man as the ball traveled away and went out-of-bounds on the right sideline at Van Buren's 36.
Farmington's Jayden Metcalf saw the fair catch signal and slowed his run when he was blasted from the back at Van Buren's 42. A certain 5-feet-11, 180-pound Van Buren free safety, leveled Metcalf. The blindside could have been interpreted as unnecessary roughness or a personal foul penalty but no flag was thrown and the Pointer appeared to receive congratulations as he came to the Van Buren sideline leaving fans, who had witnessed flags on the previously-mentioned plays, wondering why this hit didn't meet the criteria as an infraction of the rules of football?
MARK HUMPHREY IS A SPORTS WRITER FOR THE ENTERPRISE-LEADER.
Sports on 10/07/2015