Things learned, observed in Pacific high school football Week 7.0
Published: October 7, 2012
Musings, mutterings and the occasional schmahts as Ornauer continues replaying Friday’s Zama at Edgren instant football classic and wonders what the next two matchups will be like:
-- Officiating oversight?: If I had a nickel for every time a coach, athletics director, angry paren and others approached me this season and opened by saying, “Off the record, about the officiating,” I’d never have to work another day in my life. Ever.
Enough folks out there firmly believe – winning as well as losing teams – that the officiating needs work and/or that there are too many inexperienced greenhorns out there calling games of great importance and creating messes along the way. I think it’s time to call a quick timeout and remind folks of a few things:
United Services for Korea Officials Association, United Services for Japan Officials Association, Marianas Sports Officials Association, Okinawa Athletic Officials Association, Japan-American Sports Officials Association, all are comprised of people not hired specifically to be officials but to defend the country.
That said, they should have a good enough grasp of current National Federation of State High School Associations rules and casebooks as well as DODDS Pacific’s two governing manuals that they are not directly affecting and deciding the outcome of games when the teams and players should be doing so.
Especially the nuances of things like the Mercy Rule, which clearly still is not being applied properly across the board. In one case this season, the mercy rule was not applied at all in a case when it was clearly mandated.
To remind folks out there, the Mercy Rule applies when one team takes a 30-point lead. Key players must leave the lineup, teams may not blitz or stunt on defense and the clock becomes a running clock, stopping only for team timeouts, injuries, scoring plays and changes of possession. When the losing team cuts the lead below 21 points, regulation clock resumes and starters may return to the winning team’s lineup. The Mercy Rule was not designed to give the losing team a chance to catch up, but as a safety tool, designed to hasten games’ ends and reduce the possibility of injuries and flaring tempers.
The Far East Athletics Council meets twice a year via video conference. It is imperative that the ranking member of each association be present in one of the meeting locations and NOT leave the room until they’re crystal clear on Mercy Rule and changes to other rules, and will distribute that material to their rank and file and have the information with them during each game.
DODDS Pacific needs to take the initiative to get them in the room with them. Just like prior to each game, the officiating crew and host school are still scrambling to find people older than 8-year-old boys to operate the chains and down box, officiating is often taken for granted by all of us. The refs are expected to be there and expected to make perfect calls, when in fact they get it right for 46 percent of the people 50 percent of the time (4 percent there is no pleasing).
I do find it odd that so many people feel the need to approach ME, as if I can provide relief or redress for the various coaches’, players’, athletics directors’ and angry parents alleged wrongs they feel the referees did to their teams. They know who the Far East Athletics Council members are in their district; address the subject with them.
-- End the mismatches?: A couple of visitors to this website have railed on DODDS Pacific for perpetuating what they term egregious gridiron mismatches and budgetary waste, pitting Division I Kubasaki and Kadena of Okinawa against Division II Osan American and Daegu High of South Korea.
Over three seasons, nine such inter-district, inter-division games have been played, all nine won by Okinawa, with Korea being outscored 325-74 by Okinawa.
They’re calling for the immediate disbanding of that season series and having the smaller D-II schools and bigger D-I schools pick on somebody each their own size.
Well, hold the phone for a minute. While it seems right on the surface and just below it that D-I schools should just face each other and D-II schools just face each other except for regular league opponents, if you remove the Korea-Okinawa games, each of them loses two games off their schedules.
So, who would they play instead?
Daegu and Osan already play each other twice, as they do Seoul American, once at home and once away. Kadena and Kubasaki are in the same boat, facing each other twice.
Do you make the respective schools play each other a third or fourth time?
Do you have Osan and Daegu play Edgren and Zama American of Japan a second time per season?
Consider also that Yokota is no bigger than Osan in terms of enrollment at the moment, and Yokota is the reigning D-I champion. Caveat to that: Once Humphreys American opens next fall, Osan’s enrollment will drop like a stone, not to mention Division II will get a fifth team in Humphreys, and possibly a sixth at Matthew C. Perry in Japan, provided the Samurai go varsity in fall 2013. That alone would solve Osan’s and Daegu’s lack of games problem; they have five D-II opponents each, instead of the three they have this season.
One visitor to my Facebook page suggested that Kadena and Kubasaki each play American School In Japan and the schools on Guam to replace those games lost.
Noble in intent, but let’s look at facts:
ASIJ has its own commitment to the Kanto Plain Association of Secondary Schools, while the Guam schools are committed to their Interscholastic Football League, and bye weeks may not always coincide with those of Kadena and Kubasaki.
Then, there are eligibility concerns. DODDS’ eligibility rules mandate a 2.0 grade-point average and no Fs regularly during each season, and just to be eligible to play at the start of the season, a player must have no more than eight semesters clock ticking, not turn 19 before Aug. 1 and not be a fifth-year senior.
But those are other stories for other days.
I still think it is possible for Guam High to be brought in on the D-I circuit to give the Panthers a true shot at the Far East D-I title, and to mitigate Kubasaki and Kadena losing its games with Korea.
Have DODDS Pacific Far East athletics coordinator Don Hobbs and Martin Boudreau, the Independent Interscholastic Athletic Association of Guam’s counterpart, meet and work this out. A deal that would allow Guam High to play a DODDS football schedule, while leaving the Panthers welcome to play IIAAG in all other sports.
Six D-II schools, giving Osan and Daegu five opponents each. Six D-I schools, giving Kubasaki, Kadena and Guam High five opponents each. Sounds workable.
-- D-II fireworks: If Friday’s 40-26 shootout between victor and visitor Zama American and vanquished homestanding Edgren is any indicator, we are in for some dy-no-mite football on Oct. 19 when the teams meet again at Camp Zama and on Nov. 10, when the two square off for the D-II title.
Two teams that match up perfectly in their contrasting styles, the Eagles with their impetuous air attack that resulted in four touchdown catches by Tyrone Bacalso, and Zama’s ground-pounding style that resulted in 217 yards and four touchdowns for the Trojan’s bull of a fullback, Andre Encarnacion.
Just a question of whether Zama can continue to ram the ball down the smaller Eagles’ throats, and whether the Eagles can find a way to solve the Encarnacion puzzle and figure out a way to finish. Four times this season, Edgren has taken double-digit leads on teams, only to fall in the end.
-- Elsewhere…: Hey, what’s that I see? Osan put up a 20-spot on Kubasaki?
Let’s not forget that despite the one-sided point spread in the Korea-Okinawa series, twice the Division II teams put double-digits in points on the scoreboard, and in 2011, Kadena had to rally from an 8-2 deficit to beat Daegu 10-8.
“We were in a tussle,” Dragons coach Fred Bales said of beating back an Osan team that got two touchdowns from Ibrahim Mustafa and got gashed by Tim Ampa for 134 yards on 14 carries plus a touchdown.
That said, Tyler Smith (two touchdown passes), Ryan Burnette (two touchdowns) and Jarrett Mitchell (three TD runs) continue to fill the stat sheets for Kubasaki. D.J. Alderman, nine tackles and three passes defended. Tyshon Butler, a team-leading 13 tackles plus 115 yards on four carries.
That tight battle we were expecting with American School In Japan at Yokota on Friday? Didn’t happen. Yokota’s big-play factory struck again for five lengthy TD scoring plays, 429 rushing yards on 45 carries and 184 passing yards on 5-for-6 completions and attempts. Stanley Speed was as big on offense (4-for-4, 142 yards, TD) as he was defensively when he intercepted two ASIJ passes. First season sweep for Yokota over the Mustangs in five years. And a tie for yet another Kanto Plain title under coach Tim Pujol’s watch.
Speaking of big plays, this time around, Kadena left nothing to chance Saturday at Daegu. Justin Sego scored on two long runs, Dionte Lora returned an interception for a score and ran for a touchdown and Maverick Giron sneaked twice for scores as the Panthers routed the Warriors 41-0.
But in defeat, Daegu may have found a new option at quarterback, lanky, tall freshman Torian James. He went 2-for-5 for 50 yards in his first snaps under center.
For those who might remember the culture of Kinnick football in the 1990s (four straight Kanto titles, 1995-98, the Football Fanatics, the brass band and all the pomp that was one of the best homecomings in the Pacific), that culture is slowly returning. Saturday, Dustin Wilson, Quinton Holden and the Red Devils took a giant leap forward with a 27-0 win over Seoul American. Not only did that avenge last season’s play-in game loss, it kept Kinnick alive for a berth in the D-I title game on Nov. 17.
Guam High also got what it wanted, a sweep dream of all six regular-season IFL games, including a 49-6 home romp over Southern in Friday’s homecoming game. Tegan Brown was sensational again, 132 yards and a touchdown on three punt returns, a touchdown run, six tackles, a forced fumble and two passes defended. Daniel Morta and Cody Burpo each returned interceptions for touchdowns. Now comes the wait for the winner of Friday’s Father Duenas Memorial vs. George Washington first-round playoff game; Guam High hosts that winner on Oct. 20.
