In a 5A Division I Region I final football game at Texas Stadium last week, No. 1 Euless Trinity was facing unranked Allen High for a spot in the state semifinals. Trinity was riding a 27-game winning streak, but the streak stopped there, as the Eagles put the defending champions away, 34-21.
But how? How did the Trojans lose? Well, maybe it was smart playcalling by Allen or good ball control. Maybe Trinity wasn’t strong enough in the trenches. Maybe. Or perhaps it was because the Trojans’ safety was too busy headhunting the referee to bother playing football. In a SPORTSBYBROOKS.COM EXCLUSIVE, irrefutable video evidence is after the jump.
Here’s another angle. Notice how obvious it was that the safety was aiming for the referee instead of paying any attention to the play. The flow of the play went the other direction, there was nobody to cover, the ref didn’t suddenly get in the player’s way, and the player made no effort to avoid him, instead driving his shoulder into the defenseless referee. Observe:
The karmatic value of the entire situation is rather enormous. While Euless Trinity was busy trying to exact revenge for a bad call or something, they end up A) giving up a giant run play right at the area vacated by the unsportsmanlike safety, and B) losing the game, which means C) their season is over.
So far, there hasn’t been one word from the Dallas-area media about that headhunting. It seems hard to believe that they somehow didn’t notice a football player streaking across the flow of the play to lay out an unsuspecting official. We can’t think of a single other reason to ignore one of the most unsportsmanlike acts in years.
6:38 pm on December 14th, 2008
Maybe the ref broke up one of his interception attempts earlier in the game, and this was revenge. It was definitely intentional. Wow.
10:17 pm on December 14th, 2008
Hope the official presses charges and sends the little weasel to jail.
10:20 pm on December 14th, 2008
""…No. 1 Euless Trinity was facing unranked Allen High…""
Perhaps your site's research department should try just a little harder… there's this neato new site called 'google.com'…. You should point it out to them.
Allen High hasn't been 'unranked' this entire millenium.
11:13 pm on December 14th, 2008
I hope you based this article on more than just this video. I suspect if there is anything to this appropriate action will be taken. I've seen this before, though. People take an isolated video clip and make a federal case out of it. It's innapropriate.
11:29 pm on December 14th, 2008
Yup, back to English 12.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inappropriate
That's how it's spelled.
Actually… Looking back on what you said you spelled appropriate correctly but inappropriate incorrectly :\
12:23 am on December 15th, 2008
ImATaQUitO, you must be an idiot.
9:30 am on December 15th, 2008
There was a blitz coming off the right side. The coverage called for the safety in question to fill the zone left by the for the blitzing LB. He needed to get to his spot. The ref was in the way.
10:21 am on December 15th, 2008
I agree with those who posted that this wasn't intentional. It looked to me as if they were trying to hide the coverage. The inside receiver released uncovered and it was the Safety's responsibility to cover him.
As a fellow ref I have to believe in the integrity of the game. Although I also believe in protecting my fellow officials, I have a hard time believing that act was intentional without talking to the members of the crew who worked that game. Innocent until proven guilty!
10:35 am on December 15th, 2008
There was no blitz and no excuse for the player targeting the official, which is obvious to any objective eye. Other problems on the play would be that the offense was not set prior to the snap and #20 applied a cheap shot in the back to #12 at the end of the play.
11:14 am on December 15th, 2008
This happened on the next to last play of the game, and the game was decided. This was NO accident.
Why ws it removed from ouTube???
11:24 am on December 15th, 2008
This happened on the next to last play of the game, and the game was decided. This was NO accident.
Why ws it removed from ouTube???
I smell a conspiracy. The Texas High School Athletic Association is trying to cover their ass.
1:59 pm on December 15th, 2008
I don't agree…from the limited footage that I saw (the two now removed YouTube videos) there is no way that you are going to convince me that the kids actions were intentional.
7:15 pm on December 15th, 2008
What do you expect from "fellow ref". You are blind just like your fellow refs. Of course we cant convince you it was intentional. Refs always stick to their guns, even when they are wrong. Remember what Marcellus Wallace said? Pride only hurts, it never helps.
4:05 pm on December 20th, 2008
The kid's been punished:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/122008dnspotrinity.2ca3ed3.html
11:53 pm on December 21st, 2008
Hey, I just heard about this and wanted to see for myself, put it back please!