MEMO TO TT'S COACH: YOUR SUCCESSOR IS HERE!
Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2004 1:07 pmSouth Grand Prairie coach David Fisher defended his decision to score a late touchdown rather than run out the clock Friday in his team's 24-14 victory over Irving Nimitz.
Fisher said his motive was to boost his team's chances should it finish tied for a playoff berth. In District 6-5A, point differential is a tiebreaker.
The touchdown with two seconds left led to pushing and shoving after the extra point. Coaches chased players back to the sidelines. The final two seconds were not played, and the teams left the field without shaking hands.
Nimitz coach Mike Farda was angry at the time, but when reached Monday said the extra score didn't matter.
"Obviously, they were trying to run it up," he said, "but I'm not upset about them scoring the last touchdown. I know why they did it, and they know why they did it. It's not his [Fisher's] responsibility to hold the score down. It's Mike Farda's responsibility to hold the score down."
Farda said the skirmish "messed up a really good football game."
Fisher said, "If the situation had been reversed, I would have expected Nimitz to try and score. It is the difference between being plus-10 and plus-3 in a tiebreaker. That could be the difference in making the playoffs or staying home."
Fisher said his motive was to boost his team's chances should it finish tied for a playoff berth. In District 6-5A, point differential is a tiebreaker.
The touchdown with two seconds left led to pushing and shoving after the extra point. Coaches chased players back to the sidelines. The final two seconds were not played, and the teams left the field without shaking hands.
Nimitz coach Mike Farda was angry at the time, but when reached Monday said the extra score didn't matter.
"Obviously, they were trying to run it up," he said, "but I'm not upset about them scoring the last touchdown. I know why they did it, and they know why they did it. It's not his [Fisher's] responsibility to hold the score down. It's Mike Farda's responsibility to hold the score down."
Farda said the skirmish "messed up a really good football game."
Fisher said, "If the situation had been reversed, I would have expected Nimitz to try and score. It is the difference between being plus-10 and plus-3 in a tiebreaker. That could be the difference in making the playoffs or staying home."