Controversy after 106-0 blowout: School district 'saddened beyond words'
With Inglewood (Calif.) High School leading Morningside (Calif.) High School by 104 points, the Sentinals tacked on a two-point conversion.
Final score: Inglewood 106, Morningside 0.
The blowout, which included 13 passing touchdowns for Sentinals quarterback Justyn Martin, ended in harsh words from both the Morningside football coach and the Inglewood Unified School District, which oversees both schools.
“It was a classless move,” said first-year Morningside head coach Brian Collins, according to the Daily Breeze. “But if they feel like scoring 100 points against Morningside is going to make them a bigger program, then big ups to them. If you’re that good, go play St. John Bosco, Mater Dei or Servite.
The school district released a statement saying it is “saddened beyond words” and will take steps “to ensure that a similar outcome never happens again under an IUSD athletic program.”
IUSD statement regarding Inglewood H.S vs. Morningside H. S. October 29th Game! #WeAreInglewoodUnified pic.twitter.com/SXpNaEs0zS
— Inglewood Unified School District (@INGUSD) October 31, 2021
Inglewood has seven players committed to “major universities,” according to the Los Angeles Times, and Martin is a UCLA commit.
Collins, who was hired a week before the season started, according to the Daily Breeze, told the outlet that Morningside side didn’t get an offseason program, spring practice or 7-on-7s. They are also filled with injuries, including to their three quarterbacks, which led to a wide receiver serving as the passer on Friday.
A running clock started late in the second quarter. Inglewood led 59-0 after the first quarter and 86-0, meaning they scored 20 points in the second half.
This is by no means the first controversial finish of a team running up the score. Typically, a team with a giant lead will run out the clock, but it’s not necessarily rare for a team to keep pushing even when the game out of hand.
In fact, Morningside has its own example of running up the score, albeit 30 years ago. The legendary women’s basketball player Lisa Leslie scored 101 points in the first half of a game against South Torrence in 1990. South Torrence refused to play the second half, resulting in a 102-24 finish (that’s right, Leslie scored 101 of her team’s 102 points, and did so in 16 minutes of play).
What do you think? Should Inglewood have kept the starters in the game and continued running up the score for as long as they did? Or should they have backed off much earlier and ran out the clock?