Plainedge football found to have shown 'no intent' to run up score in 47-0 win
Coach Rob Shaver was suspended in 2019 for one game after Plainedge beat South Side, 61-13. Credit: Dawn McCormick
For the second time in as many weeks, the Plainedge football team blew out a playoff opponent. And for the second week in a row, the Red Devils were found not to be in violation of Nassau's lopsided rules policy that has been in place for the past four years.
Top-seeded Plainedge shut out No. 5 Floral Park, 47-0, in a Nassau Conference III semifinal playoff game at Hofstra Thursday night.
Sophomore Jake Anglim scored on a short touchdown run in the fourth quarter for the final margin and send the point total above the 42-point threshold.
"I attended the game and the Plainedge coaching staff did another good job of getting all their players into a lopsided game early in the second half," said Pat Pizzarelli, the executive director for Section VIII athletics, which governs Nassau’s athletics. "There was no intent to run up the score. Floral Park actually created the scoring opportunity by giving Plainedge a short field by going for it on a fourth-down try deep in their own territory."
Plainedge (10-0) will play for its fourth straight county title when they meet No. 3 Bethpage in the conference final at Hofstra at 4 p.m. next Friday.
It was the second time this season Plainedge was in violation of the rule, and the second time the Nassau football committee determined that coach Rob Shaver did everything he could to keep the game close. Plainedge has dominated the conference, winning by an average of 36 points per game but had always stayed under the 42-point threshold until the past two weeks in the postseason.
Nassau approved a three-step process for coaches in violation of the score differential policy. The first time a coach is found to be in violation, a written warning is sent to the school. The second violation is a suspension with the right to appeal. The third time is suspension with no right to appeal.
The only time a coach has been suspended for violating the rule was when Shaver had to sit out a game in 2019 after Plainedge beat South Side, 61-13.
Pizzarelli was asked if the rule has worked to keep scores down across the county.
"The rule is not going anywhere, and we know it has worked favorably in keeping the scores respectable," he said. "Do you see any Nassau teams scoring 70 points and winning by more than 50? When I was at Lawrence, we regularly beat teams by more than 50 points and didn’t think about it. It wasn’t good for the sport. Those days are over."
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
