A Texas father has filed a formal complaint against a football coach, whom he claims is responsible for bullying his son's team after the coach led the opponents into victory with a score of 91-0, ABC affiliate WFAA reports.
Aledo High School officials have made the complaint public, though the father did not include his name or contact information on the form. The concerned father's son plays on the Western Hills High School team, and according to the dad, the teens were bullied and "everyone in the stadium" was a witness during the "unsportsmanlike conduct [that occurred] from 7:30 - 10:00."
During the third quarter, a running clock was started that doesn't stop unless there's a timeout or a score made, and in the fourth quarter, they went on a continuous running clock,
"We all witnessed bullying first hand, it is not a pretty sight," the father wrote. "I did not know what to say on the ride home to explain the behavior of the Aledo coaches for not easing up. I thought how tough it must have been for the parents of the Aledo football players to explain what happened."
In response, Aledo football coach, Tim Buchanan, defended his decisions on the field to WFAA. "You don't want to see their kids give up 91 points," he said. "Our kids aren't very excited at the end of the game, either. I'm not going to ask a football player to go out on the field and not play hard." He insisted that his starter kids only played half the game that took place on Friday night, and "did everything but take a knee Friday night to hold the score down against Western Hills."
"I'm not gonna tell a kid that comes out here and practices six to seven hours a week trying to get ready for football games 'Hey, you can't score a touchdown if you get in, you're gonna have to take a knee,' 'cause that may be the only touchdown that kid gets to score in his high school career," Buchanan told Fox affiliate KDFW.
"I can tell you, our kids learn from our coaches' compassion, and slowing things down," said Aledo Superintendent Derek Citty.
"It could have been worse than what it was." Citty added that he spoke to the concerned parent and considered him a "gentlemen," though he did not agree with the bullying allegations. He hopes that Aledo's football team can be moved into a tougher district next year so they can avoid playing weaker teams.
