McGehee Owls Defeat Pirates 50–0
October 4th, 2014 by Matthew Spencer
The Pirates were plagued from the start by several unusually costly mistakes, including a few shaky kick returns. They generally had a slow start, both on offense while facing a defensive line of mostly seniors, and on defense, while facing unorthodox trick plays.
Despite early struggles, the Pirates kept playing hard, and played the second part of the game better, and with more energy, than the first.
The only things one could really fault the Sr. Pirates with, in regards to attitude and conduct, were 2 unsportsmanlike conduct penalties that were called against them. Unsportsmanlike conduct has no place on or off the field, and there is never a good excuse for it. Having said that, they were hardly unprovoked.
The Owls incurred 3 unsportsmanlike conduct calls prior to the penalties against the Pirates. In addition, that number is only that low due to the fact that referees cannot see the entire field at once. An observer would notice multiple late hits and a good bit of post-play roughness by the Owls that would have likely resulted in several penalties against them, had the behavior been seen. While this is not a good excuse for the Pirates actions following that, it was certainly easy to understand.
The Owls’ trespasses on sportsman code on the field was not the worst of it. Despite any attempts to rationalize away the various penalties, it did not speak well for the Owls as a whole when the McGehee band repeatedly played mocking notes loudly at each kickoff return (after the first two) by the Pirates. This continued for the better part of the game, and was, for lack of a better term, disgraceful.
The on-the-field attitude, combined with the shameful actions of their band, insured that a negative attribute of the Owls’ team was indeed the most memorable part of the game. It was their lack of sportsmanship, not their skill at football, that stood out the most.
All said, the Pirates conducted themselves well, given the circumstances.
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I was at the game on Friday. My child attends neither school. I watched the entire game and am now in disbelief by this story. I witnessed young men playing football. And though it is true that there were unsportsmanlike like conduct penalties given. They were on both sides. The band playing the off note on the kickoff was rude but that had nothing to do with the players or coaches. Mcgehee in my opinion could have been much more unsportsmanlike and left their starters in the whole game. The score would have been 80- nothing then. My hope is that the person who wrote the above article is a student and was upset by the fact that they lost by so much and is now taking it on with this article. Drew Central has a good thing going with this new coach and the kids they have now. The uo and coming players will make the Pirates better and if they keep doing good things then good things will happen. I could call out numbers of kids from Drew that were in fact unsportsmanlike like but I chalked it up to being mad cause they were losing 50-0. I ran into and spoke to several McGehee parents and they all said that they loved the family feeling of Drew Central ….. So much for keeping that image alive.
This article is sure to tick a few of your McGehee readers off. It is a game . Do the referees catch every penalty no . Is there things that go on in a pile up they don’t see yes. But printed word is seen by all.
With that said , it sounds like you are a sore loser. The Pirates played a far better team as the score shows. In a few years the Pirates might be up to the level of play as the OWLS. I am proud of our players and our coaches. One thing our coaches do is to instill good sportsmanship in our team. I think you owe our team, school , and city an apology. Mike Rogers
Many people do not understand the game of football just like the reporter of this football article. Mr. Spencer first of all if you know anything about football you will understand that McGehee doesn’t run trick plays. The open gate formation that the team run after a touchdown is a formation that various college and high schools team run to this day. Not only that but the hard nosed football that McGehee team run is not unorthodox. Talking about sportsmanship check the Webster dictionary for clarity, because if you noticed like any other football knowledge person would note the team didn’t score after the half at all. Not because of the Pirates defense but because McGehee played their subs the whole second half. On the band playing again I ask you to recollect your ideas and to be mindful of other football games. The AAA handbook acknowledges when bands can and cannot play. So don’t fault the band director on AA outlined rules. The penalties that were thrown by the inexperienced officials that the Pirate team hired doesn’t demonstrate the sportsmanship of the Owl team. You cannot substitute the heart and aggression with the lack preparation on the Pirate team side. So don’t go starting a pity party for the other team. McGehee is a team that practice what they preach and play hard nose football. What you can comment on is the unorthodox shout outs that the press box gives out, the terrible field that the Pirate team has, and the unprofessional officials that they hired. Do not get agitated at a good school because the people of Monticello treats the Pirates as a step child school. Why don’t you call Star City’s Coach Becky and ask her would she have pity on an unprepared school. Not to mention basketball teams don’t trade film like football teams do. Trying to be friendly in an unfriendly zone.
Mr. Spencer,
I am not sure how much you know about football. It is a physical game, and should be played full tilt, every down. It seems that you are trying to run down the McGehee football team for playing physical. That is different than being unsportsmanlike. The McGehee coaches teaches discipline and sportsmanship alike. Our band played nothing degrading or out of the ordinary. I am not putting down Drew Central, but our coach called the dogs off after the first half, with the 2nd teamers playing the 2nd half. That was a show of both mercy and sportsmanship. Coach Haddock runs a very well respected program with a great bunch of kids, followed by a fine band and wonderful fans.