For Breaking Rule, Canyon Gets Tackled

Canyon High football Coach Larry Mohr confirmed Wednesday that he violated a Southern Section rule by using tackling dummies at practice.

The Southern Section rules state that teams participating in the three-day football conditioning period, Aug. 21-23, cannot use equipment such as blocking sleds, tackling dummies and pads.

“I was outright not aware of it and there’s no excuse for that,” Mohr said. “I apologize for embarrassing Canyon and my principal.”

The violations took place in morning and afternoon practices on Monday and Tuesday, according to Canyon Principal Mike Allmandinger, who says the Southern Section has disciplined the school.

“The normal course of action is that the school isn’t allowed to use that kind of equipment for double the practices in which it committed the violation,” Allmandinger said. “So for eight practices we can’t use sleds and pads.”

Allmandinger says the infringement was an honest mistake that he and the football coaching staff deeply regret.

“We screwed up,” he said. “It’s our fault. We should know the rules and we didn’t.”

Bill Clark, assistant Southern Section commissioner, first learned of the infraction when he received an anonymous fax Wednesday of a photo that was published in a local paper that day.

In it a Canyon assistant is shown next to a player going through a drill with a tackling dummy.

“I called the school and they immediately admitted it,” Clark said. “They said they were very sorry.”

Mohr says he’s looking forward to practicing in full gear.

“It’s going to put us a little behind, but we accept what they gave us,” he said.