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Mercy rule debuts often
13 games went to a running clock due to lopsided score
By Steve Ruman
It didn’t take long for the newly-instituted “mercy rule” to work its way into Mahoning Valley football games.
Under the rule adopted this year by the Ohio High School Athletic Association, a running clock will be used when a team is up by 30 or more points in the second half.
In these circumstances, the clock only will be stopped when an official’s timeout or charged timeout is called, at the end of the quarter or when a team scores, with the clock restarting when the official gives the ready-to-play signal.
Should the point differential drop below 30 points, the clock will revert back to regular timing.
Of the 31 season-opening games played over the weekend involving schools from the tri-county area, 13 contests included a continuous running clock for all or part of the third and fourth quarters.
The change was met with mixed emotions by most coaches who were involved in the lopsided contests.
“I am a bit torn because there are benefits, but at the same time our fourth quarter flew by so fast,” McDonald coach Dan Williams said. “You want reward your kids who work hard all week in practice with some playing time.
“In our case, because of the running clock, their time on the field was very limited.”
McDonald defeated East Palestine 59-20. The Blue Devils scored a touchdown in the early stages of the fourth quarter which prompted the running clock for the remainder of the game.
“We’ve always subbed in the past any time we were up by 30,” Williams said. “I think if all coaches had the right ethics and did things the right way, we wouldn’t need the new rule. But I understand the reason for why it was put in place.
“Sometimes as a coach you just cringe when you score late in a game that’s a blowout. You don’t want to, but at the same time you can’t tell your JV players to not play hard.”
Champion coach Terry Howell was on the opposite side of the mercy rule. His Golden Flashes fell to Streetsboro 40-7. With the score 40-0 at halftime, the entire second half was played with a running clock.
“I jokingly asked if fans were going to get half of their money back,” Howell said. “Our second half flew by so fast, I can see where teams simply aren’t going to have an opportunity to ever mount a comeback.
“It’s difficult to make adjustments. Even if you put together a long, sustained drive and score points to start the second half, you probably ate up too much clock for it to matter.”
Given a choice, Howell said he would prefer that the new rule was discontinued.
“I’d like to see the game played out, and if the score becomes even more lopsided in the second half, that’s part of the game,” Howell said. “Part of the building and learning process is playing time.
“Even if your team is down big, that additional playing time is invaluable for both the starters and reserves.”
Youngstown Christian coach Brian Marrow saw his team fall behind LaBrae 31-0 with 4:42 left in the second quarter. Neither team scored from that point on.
“The rule doesn’t really bother me, but at the same time I wonder if it should be tweaked to maybe 35 or 40 points,” Marrow said. “We played a good second half, but at the same time we knew that with the running clock, it was going to be tough to mount any comeback.”
North Carolina recently adopted a mercy rule which takes effect when a team leads by 42 or more points.
Marrow recalled a game in which his Eagles held a large second-half lead. He was asked by a referee if he would agree to shorten the third and fourth quarters. Though Marrow was in favor of the idea, the opposing coach chose to play out the game with normal time.
“For the most part, I think coaches want to use the game as a learning experience, and they want the kids to get as much work as they can in game conditions,” Marrow said.
Williams noted that perhaps the best-case scenario would be to enact the rule when both the coaches and referees believe it is in the best interest of the players. As an example, he pointed to Mathews’ 48-0 win over Ashtabula St. John — a school which just this year re-instituted its football program.
“St. John’s is playing with just 17 kids, and they are going through some major growing pains,” Williams said. “In that situation, depth and the possibility of injuries become a huge factor. It’s probably best for all concerned to get the kids off the field a little quicker than normal and let them regroup.”
Of the 31 games played this weekend, the winners combined to out-score the losing teams 1,110-363 for an average score of 36-12.