OIA promises punishment for 'Aiea, Campbell football
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
|
||
A day after a benches-clearing fight suspended Saturday's O'ahu Interscholastic Association football game between 'Aiea and Campbell, the outcome remained unclear and the status of the teams' interleague games this week was undetermined.
"But definitely there will be sanctions," OIA executive director Dwight Toyama said last night. "We don't condone this kind of stuff."
The OIA's football committee will meet this morning to sort out the details of what happened, review film to determine which players should be ejected from the game, make a ruling on the game's outcome and discuss rule interpretations for a course of disciplinary action.
'Aiea was leading, 33-26, with 57.3 seconds remaining when most, if not all, of the players on both sidelines rushed the field during an on-field fight.
Under OIA and National Federation of State High School Associations rules, any player leaving the sidelines during an on-field fight is automatically ejected from the game.
And under OIA rules, any player ejected from a game also is ineligible for the following game. 'Aiea is scheduled to host Saint Louis Friday, and Campbell had been planning to travel to Kamehameha Saturday.
But Toyama said the committee needs to clarify whether that rule covers interleague games as well as league games.
'Aiea coach Wendell Say said yesterday his team's game film was not functional, and footage shown on NEWS-8 last night was inconclusive as far as how many players left the sidelines to join in the fight.
The OIA football committee also will determine the outcome of the game, in which 'Aiea led, 33-26, at the time it was called after the fight.
OIA officials commissioner Jim Beavers said he has submitted the 'Aiea-Campbell game report to league football coordinator Harold Tanaka.
In past games that were ended prematurely due to fights or safety reasons (see chart), the outcomes were virtually already decided and the scores stood. But in Saturday's case, 'Aiea was facing a fourth-and-14 on its 49-yard line.
"We probably would have punted," Say said.
On 'Aiea's previous punt, Campbell's Samson Anguay returned it 50 yards for a touchdown.
"I've never had to deal with this (kind of situation) where the game was stopped after a crucial play," Tanaka said.
Don Botelho, the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association's football coordinator who also sits on the National Federation rules committee, said the Federation has no specific guidelines for such a scenario.
"They usually make the state associations decide, but in our state we leave it up to the leagues," Botelho said. "That's (the OIA's) issue to determine."
Beavers, in his 36th season as a football official, said he has never seen a case like this one in which the game was called with the outcome still in the balance.
"The crew said it was a well-played game, and then suddenly it became a nightmare," Beavers said. "We're saddened for the game."
The incident was the fifth in the past five years in which a football game on O'ahu ended with a fight or was called prematurely due to safety issues.
Toyama said players should be instructed to stay off the field during altercations.
"We always say, 'Let the officials handle (what happens on) the field and let the coaches handle the sidelines,' " he said.Correction
Lahainaluna beat Waiakea, 48-0, Saturday. An incorrect score was published in yesterday's Advertiser.
Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.