[Wildcat45]

The “major incident” in the stands turned out to be Tolsia parents asking (In I’m guessing not so nice ways) the EC administration to remove the student section from the fence line behind the Tolsia sideline. For some reason, the EC students are allowed to walk the fence line behind the visitor bench and heckle the visiting team. I would hope that in the future, East Carter switches the sideline to make that the home sideline to avoid another incident like this happening again. As for the fight that broke out on the field, it ended up looking much worse than it would have been if the sidelines did not extend to the 10 yard line. The fight spilled into the Tolsia sideline area which also happened to be where the fence line ended allowing EC students and fans to come around the fence to get involved. There is video of an adult from EC pushing Tolsia players. However, in my unbiased opinion, it looked like the guy was just trying to break up the fight and get the East player out of the crowd of Tolsia players. A few things could have avoided this, and some were avoidable while others were not.
1. We don’t need the sideline extended for social distancing because the kids aren’t distancing anyway.

2. The visitors should use the sideline on the opposite side of the field if fans are allowed on the fence line behind the bench. If the home team wants to use the side with less distractions, no one should be able to be that close to the visiting team while they’re trying to play a football game.

3. A separate set of visiting team bleachers would’ve helped with this, but that’s one of the things that isn’t a quick fix. In a perfect world, each team along with fans should be on opposite sides of the field.

My only other thought on this is that I don’t see how a home team’s administration can call a game and get the win. I understand they were winning. If they truly thought the situation was unsafe with no way of fixing it, they should be able to take a no contest on the game. The officials did not call the game. I do not think East Carter should have had to of taken the loss, but they should not be awarded a win with an entire quarter left to play. The fight in question happened a good 15 minutes before they decided to call the game. There was no physical fighting in the stands, just a couple of rednecks running their mouths back and forth. At that point, you remove those people and continue the game. I have been to many games that random people get tossed for being out of control. They had originally asked everyone to leave, and they said they would finish the game without fans. The Tolsia coaches asked if the parents could at least stay, and the administrators ultimately decided to just go ahead and end the game. Whether or not that decision was right or wrong, I do not see how one school’s administration has the complete power over the decision AND can be awarded the win based on a 15 point lead with an entire quarter left to play.

If the officials called the game, then sure, it’s over at that point with the result being whoever is in the lead then wins. I just don’t see how a school can make that decision for everyone AND get the result that benefits their team. I doubt they would have called the game if they were getting beat. IF something similar happens later on, how can the KHSAA not end with the same result? If this were two Kentucky schools, I wonder what would have happened here. Especially if they were in the same district. I don’t think this will happen again this season or that anyone will try to take advantage of another team like that. However, if a home team had a late lead on a district rival, COULD they end the game early and be awarded the win if they just said the situation was hostile? Remember, this game continued after the fight on the field. This game ended because “fans were fighting”.. not physically fighting, verbally arguing.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out if a similar situation arises later in the season.