Girard Vs. Niles

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Girard

Record	Div.	Conf.
9/2	Div. IV	All-American Conference Blue Tier

By Jon Moffett

jmoffett@vindy.com

Girard

After further review, there is no foul on the play.

Girard High football coach Nick Cochran said he was informed by the Ohio High School Athletic Association on Monday that a one-game suspension against one of his players would be rescinded.

Senior wide receiver Landon Smith faced the suspension after being ejected from Friday’s game against Niles following an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

According to the OHSAA, a player who is penalized twice for unsportsmanlike conduct is automatically ejected. That player must also serve a mandatory, one-game suspension.

However, Cochran said the officiating crew admitted to him and the OHSAA on Monday there was no second unsportsmanlike penalty, and therefore no suspension.

“It’s good that the officials came back and made the right call, because that is not always the case,” Cochran said. “They communicated the error with me and the OHSAA, and I think that’s what we need to do. I think they handled it very well.”

Had the original call stood, Smith would have been declared ineligible to play in this week’s game at Campbell Memorial. The suspension wold leave the Indians (5-2) without arguably its best offensive playmaker in a conference game against the Red Devils (6-1).

“You’re getting late in the season, and if he wasn’t able to play, we have kids who would step up,” Cochran said. “It’s bad to lose a player of Landon’s caliber, but you make adjustments.”

But an OHSAA official confirmed the penalty was incorrectly assessed, and Smith is eligible to play this week.

“The referee [who ejected Smith] did call and indicate that the player was ejected for two unsportsmanlike fouls,” said Hank Zaborniak, an assistant commissioner with the OHSAA who is assigned to football. “According to the referee, the ejection was based because he thought it was the second unsportsmanlike [conduct] call.”

Zaborniak said it is “very unusual” for an official to mistakenly eject a player. But, he added, it has happened in the past.

“In most cases, these things are pretty cut-and-dry and are set in stone,” he said. “But we do have one or two cases a year where a rule is misinterpreted or applied incorrectly.”

Zaborniak said a common mistake is an official calling a player for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and a personal foul.

But the ejection and subsequent suspension rule, Zaborniak said, only applies to two violations of unsportsmanlike conduct.

Cochran said Smith had been flagged earlier in the game.

Cochran said he was “disappointed” by Smith’s actions in the 28-21 win. But he added that any punishment would be handled “in-house” and was glad no sanctions were upheld.

Zaborniak said it’s the job of the OHSAA and the officials to make the correct calls; even if that means overturning an original ruling.

“Pretty much every year we have situations where people get confused or enforce the wrong rule,” he said. “There is no appeals process, but there is the possibility that a case where a rule was misinterpreted and assessed incorrectly can be overturned.”