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High school football version of ‘Lord of the Flies’ is a disaster

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Fort Worth Star-Telegram

If you have ever wondered if a literary classic could be converted to a football field, San Antonio Jay pulled it off Friday night with its horrid version of “Lord of the Flies.” In the gridiron version of the William Golding classic, the kids kill each other, and go after the adults, too. How fun.

Two defensive players from San Antonio Jay nailed a ref in a high school game against Marble Falls (Texas) Friday.

The word disgusting springs to mind. Those fools were lucky they did not permanently injure the unsuspecting back judge in the game that has become a viral nightmare for San Antonio John Jay.

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The punishment should not be contingent upon the injury, but in the case of the two idiots that decided to hit a referee, it is. If, unlike “Lord of the Flies” where there are no adults, if a grown up was found to have a role in this, goodnight John Jay and see you next year.

According to the latest from the San Antonio Express News, assistant coach Mack Breed has been placed on administrative leave. Also from the Express News, one of the two players was not even ejected after that play and stayed in long enough to drill the Marble Falls quarterback, and was penalized for a late hit.

Yes, John Jay lost, 15-9.

If an adult is found to have any part of this premeditated and needless attack, he should be prosecuted and the program needs to be suspended for one full season. On something potentially as damaging as this, all of the adults need to be aware there are dire consequences if you instruct a kid to take a hit out on a referee. This is not Buddy Ryan and the 1989 Philadelphia Eagles in the “Bounty Bowl” against the Dallas Cowboys.

If the adults are not going to be an adult, who is? This is one of those times when you ask, “Dude what are you doing?”

That the kids did it is bad/dumb enough, but if a coach is found to have been in on this both his school and the Texas University Interscholastic League need to wield The Roger Goodell Hammer on this. And there will be no union to file a federal lawsuit on behalf of these idiots.

Both players, one of whom is a senior and the other a sophomore, have been suspended from the team and school. This report from KENS 5 in San Antonio states the pair could face criminal charges. The kids don’t need to face criminal charges; scare the hell out of them, and shame them until 2016.

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Had the referee been seriously hurt, criminal charges against the two minors may be warranted. Criminal charges stemming from action on the field of play has always been tricky, but normally those involve players and sometimes coaches. A referee is a part of the game, but he’s not taking a swing at anybody.

According to stories, the players were upset with the referee because he ejected a teammate. Welcome to the world, son. These things are going to continue to happen; wait until you get a job.

Neither player should ever again participate in another Texas UIL event. If a coach is found guilty, as some reports are suggesting, that he encouraged any of this stupidity, he’s done with teaching in Texas public schools and he should face some charges.

The kids are going to do as told. They’re kids. They are accountable too for their stupidity.

Whatever the final verdict, what happened on the field is not reflective of John Jay, the other guys on the team or anything outside of a few (stupid) people that did not think anything through other than their own selfish anger over losing what will essentially be a meaningless football game.

At least in “Lord of the Flies” you understood it they were young, dumb and full of power. If the John Jay/Marble Falls hit is just that, it does not make it right but it can be explained as youth being dumb. If an adult authored himself into this version of “Lord of the Flies”, he needs to be fired and the team’s season should be over.

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