The Follow-Through: Is it time for an 11-man mercy rule?

Share or Save for Later

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Save to Favorites

Streak Stoppers

Corpus Christi Carroll and Leander found their way back into the win column for the first time in more than 20 games.

Carroll, which last tasted victory against CC King in 2017, snapped a 25-game skid with a convincing 40-7 win over CC Ray Thursday night. Carroll opened up a 26-0 lead and cruised home. Receiver Andre Sanders ran for three scores in the win.

“It’s pretty difficult to put these last 2 ½ years into one sentence,” Rodriguez told 361hsblast.com after the game. “I definitely appreciate our kids and our staff for staying committed to what we’re trying to get done. I’m really proud of our community and everyone who has rallied around us the last couple of years and our seniors, who have stuck it out with us.”

On Friday, Leander snapped a 22-game losing streak by erasing a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit and watching Pflugerville’s 51-yard field goal try go begging on the final play. Trailing 47-35 with four minutes left, the Lions found a roar that had been missing since 2018. Ray Eglesee scored on a 1-yard run and Aidan Perrot recovered the ensuing onside kick that had bounced all the way to Pflugerville’s 27-yard line. Quarterback Garrett Landry converted the recovery into a 1-yard run with 29 seconds left.

Landry finished with two touchdown passes and two touchdown runs to lead the Lions.

“We’ve had a lot of adversity the last four years, and we just dug deep here tonight,” he told the Austin American-Statesman after the game.

Bouncing back

It turns out rumors of the demise of Longview and Arlington Martin were a bit premature. The Lobos and Warriors, teams that suffered convincing losses in the season-opening Texas Football Days showcase games, have each bounced back with three straight wins.

Longview, ranked third in the preseason 5A, Division I poll, struggled in a 40-13 loss to Temple. Since that loss, though, coach John King’s team has found its footing. The Lobos topped Beaumont West Brook Thursday 51-28, a third straight win by at least 23 points. Longview continues to build momentum with a Nov. 6 showdown against Highland Park looming.

Martin, ranked 11th in the preseason, had no answers for Denton Ryan and J’Tavion Sanders in the opener. Ryan, the top-ranked team in 5A, Division 1, handled their larger metroplex opponent 47-24 in a game that wasn’t that close. After slipping to No. 25 in the 6A rankings, Martin won a battle for Arlington ISD supremacy by “upsetting” Arlington High 52-21. The Colts were ranked 24th. Key District 8-6A meetings with currently unbeaten Arlington Bowie and South Grand Prairie are on the horizon.

Mercy Me

Is it time for 11-man coaches to take a page out of the 6-man rules?

Over the last two weekends, 41 games from the 2A to 6A ranks have seen margins of at least 60 points. This includes 13 games with margins of at least 70 points. Those numbers would be higher except many trailing teams leave their starters in long after the leading teams remove theirs, sometimes as early as the second quarter, increasing their odds to put points on the board and make final scores more respectable.

Liberty Hill’s last two games – district contests, mind you, have produced 76-0 and 86-0 wins over Austin Crockett and Austin Travis. Geronimo Navarro’s last two games have been even more lopsided. The Panthers followed an 81-0 win over Manor New Tech with a 94-0 win over Austin Eastside, which in turn simply forfeited its game the following week. Eastside was to play Wimberley, which one-upped(?) district rival Navarro by beating New Tech 88-0. Lancaster’s first two wins of the season are 81-0 and 82-6.

This isn’t to pick on Liberty Hill, Lancaster, or the top teams in District 14-4A-2, because they aren’t the only teams winning by margins so astronomical that many football followers, both casual and professional, wonder what in the name of sportsmanship is going on here.

Is the shortened preseason contributing to the margins, which at least anecdotally appear to be happening more frequently than last season? Coaches, especially at the 5A and 6A levels, may be leaving starters in longer than they might otherwise to make up for lost practice reps. That seems logical, but only to a point. They’d get more beneficial reps by practicing against their own starters.

While 11-man games often go to running clocks once the margin reaches a certain point, there isn’t a hard and fast rule that allows the often-inferior teams to maintain some dignity in defeat. Losing is part of football, and players understand that, but we can – and sometimes do – go beyond the point where enough is enough.

Players at Manor New Tech, Dimmitt or Dallas Samuell aren’t likely to be excited about heading back to practice following 81-0 or 77-7 losses. In 2013, parents from Fort Worth Western Hills actually sued Aledo’s coaches following a 91-0 loss. Was that the right course of action? No, but you can understand the sentiment.

In the 1A ranks, the 45-point rule ends games when one team takes a lead of 45 points or more in the second half. One of last year’s state title games, the 1A, Division 2 game, saw Richland Springs top Motley County when the Coyotes took a 62-16 lead in the third quarter.

Is it time to consider something like that for the larger schools? Only time, and more one-sided results, may tell.

This article is available to our Digital Subscribers.
Click "Subscribe Now" to see a list of subscription offers.
Already a Subscriber? Sign In to access this content.

Sign In
Don't Miss Any Exclusive Coverage!

We've been the Bible of Texas football fans for 64 years. By joining the DCTF family you'll gain access to all of our exclusive content and have our magazines mailed to you!