‘Classless move.’ California high school football team slammed over 106-0 ‘beatdown’
A California school district said it plans to “conduct a full investigation” into its athletics program after a high school football team suffered a 106-0 loss.
Brian Collins, coach at Morningside High School, called the defeat a “classless move” by the winning team — Inglewood High School, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Both high schools are part of the Inglewood Unified School District in Inglewood, California.
Collins told the Times that he was surprised to see Inglewood quarterback Justyn Martin play throughout the game, throwing 13 touchdown passes including a two-point conversion pass with a 104-0 lead. Martin committed to UCLA earlier that week, The Los Angeles Times reported.
“I wouldn’t do that to any team — keep your quarterback commit to UCLA in until the end of the game, taking a chance with an injury,” Collins said. “It wasn’t good sportsmanship.”
District officials released a statement on Oct. 30 saying that they were “saddened beyond words” by the loss, and that they plan to investigate and “take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that a similar outcome never happens again at an IUSD athletic program.”
The outcome was also criticized by the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section, which said in a statement that it “expects that all athletic contests are to be conducted under the strictest code of good sportsmanship.”
“We expect coaches, players, officials, administrators and students to adhere to the Six Pillars of Character - Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring and Citizenship,” the CIF statement said. “A score of 106-0 does not represent these ideals.”
Collins told The Daily Breeze that a running clock didn’t start until late in the second quarter.
The game was also criticized by other high school coaches and sports commentators.
Matt Poston, head coach at Tesoro High School in Las Flores, California, said the margin of victory sends the wrong message.
“We’re supposed to be teaching young men life lessons through the game. What message was this staff teaching last night? Sad,” Poston said in a Tweet.
Sportcaster Dick Vitale criticized Inglewood coach Mil’Von James, calling him “sickening and a disgrace” in a Tweet.
And sportswriter Nick Harris called the outcome “a beatdown for the ages” in a Tweet.
Inglewood High School and Morningside High School did not immediately respond to requests for comment from McClatchy News.
Lopsided victories were more common during the early days of high school football, almost a century ago, and the largest margin of victory came in 1927 when Haven beat Sylvia in Kansasa, 256-0, according to MaxPreps.
College football has seen its share of one-sided games as well, including in 2003 when Oklahoma shutout Texas A&M, 77-0 — and that’s without scoring in the fourth quarter.
This story was originally published November 1, 2021 at 12:21 PM.