Posted on: Tuesday, October 8, 2002
Game called after fight to avoid ejections
By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
Pearl City football players entering the playing field to aid a teammate fighting with a Nanakuli player Friday night technically should have been ejected and consequently ineligible for this week's game against Kaimuki, the head of O'ahu Interscholastic Association officials said.
Instead, the game between the Chargers and Golden Hawks at Nanakuli was called with about 50 seconds showing on the game clock. The players avoided suspension that comes with an ejection.
"Anybody that leaves the bench is automatically disqualified from the game," said Jim Beavers, commissioner of the OIA football officiating group. "We did them a favor by calling it when we did because they wouldn't be able to play (this) week."
During the altercation in the game at Nanakuli, players on the Chargers bench entered the field, according to game officials' postgame report. Pearl City coach Onosai Tanuvasa confirmed that. Beavers said the report said Nanakuli players remained on their sideline.
Players on the sidelines entering the field during an altercation are subject to ejection, according to national federation rules, Beavers said. Also, the OIA ruling for player and coach ejections is suspension from the next game.
Nanakuli beat previously unbeaten Pearl City, 28-14, in a game described as "emotionally charged" by both schools' officials. With the loss, the Chargers share first place in the OIA White with the Golden Hawks and Kaimuki, all with 4-1 records with two games left in the regular season. The top two teams advance to the 10-team OIA tournament. The top four teams from the East and West make up the rest of the field.
Tanuvasa said he ordered his players off the field and asked them what they had planned to do.
"They said, 'Coach, nobody doing anything about the kid punching (the Pearl City player),' " Tanuvasa said.
Tanuvasa said no official tried to break up the fight, which occurred in the final minute of the game. He said referee Mel Quartero conferred with Nanakuli athletic director Hugh Taufaasau, who also acts as site manager.
"He came over and asked if they could stop the game," Taufaasau said. "I told them if they thought it was the proper choice to make, then do it."
But there are several discrepancies. Pearl City athletic director Roy Ichinose and Tanuvasa said they were never told the game was going to be called off. Nanakuli coach Al Beaver also said he was not told of the decision.
Commissioner Beavers said the procedure is for the referee to advise both coaches and site manager of the decision. When told of the discrepancy, Beavers said, "I have to verify that with my guy."
Beavers said the game report showed one ejection for Nanakuli and none for Pearl City. Nanakuli's Beaver, after reviewing tapes of the game, said the ejection was justified. It came during a PAT attempt. It happened way before the altercation that led to the game being called off.
"It did appear he committed a flagrant foul and (he) deserved the consequences," Beaver said of his ejected player. "It appears he did it in retaliation. But this is football, not boxing. For the integrity of the game, we'll stick with what the officials called."
Pearl City trailed 28-14 when it lost the ball on a fumble at about the Chargers' 20- or 30-yard line, depending on whose account. Beaver said the altercation occurred during the changing of possession.
Contrasting Tanuvasa's statement, Beaver said one official was monitoring the altercation and felt the situation was under control. Beaver then turned to his players to warn them to stay on the sideline. He said he could not tell from his vantage point if Pearl City players entered the field.
Beaver said with a two touchdown lead with under a minute left, his intention was to run down the clock, so ending the game early did not affect anything.
The decision to call the game came with mixed emotions.
"I don't know if it was the right thing to do, but it was the smart thing to do at that point," Ichinose said.
Beaver added he felt the officials had the game under control. But Tanuvasa said, "it got to a point where it got out of control and that's basically why they stopped the game."
Both schools reported no residual effects after the game, except for some "exchange of words," Ichinose said. Pearl City's team bus did have a police escort from Nanakuli to Ko Olina as a precaution, Tanuvasa said.
Meanwhile, a game between Kapolei and Moanalua also had a fight that led to one player needing hospitalization.
During a third-quarter altercation, a Kapolei player suffered an injury to his right eye. Officials called an ambulance when they saw that his eye was bleeding, Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez said. Hernandez later learned the bleeding came from a cut above the player's eye. The player was released in time to join his team after the game.
Unlike the Pearl City-Nanakuli game, this one went the full 48 minutes with visiting Kapolei winning, 38-7. At one point, the game was stopped and the teams met on the field.
"Coaches on both sides did a good job from keeping things from getting out of hand," Hernandez said. "Coaches and ADs met, the teams came out, shook hands. There was a lot of hugging and a lot of sportsmanship shown after that."
In yet another issue, several coaches have complained to The Advertiser that players allegedly ejected from games continued to play the following week. Dwight Toyama, OIA executive secretary, said those reports are "just rumors."
Although there is an appeals process for suspensions, they have rarely been overturned in the past, Toyama said.
Coaches said they are reluctant to report wrongdoing of other schools to the league and prefer self-policing by each school.
