Prep column: How much is enough?

Barry Faulkner

It’s a debate older than the forward pass, the advent of which, in

1906, has further fueled the football fires that erupt from a spark of

sideline frustration.

How much is enough? And at what point does that distinction become

apparent? When does the simple act of competition become a debilitating

blow to the psyche of an opposing player buried under a deficit displayed

in bright scoreboard lights?

Good question.

In the aftermath of the vocal protest waged by Costa Mesa High Coach

Dave Perkins over a touchdown pass with 2:31 left in his team’s 31-6

Pacific Coast League-opening loss to Northwood Thursday night, I talked

with Newport-Mesa District coaches in search of a few answers.

Newport Harbor High Coach Jeff Brinkley, in his 16th season at the

Sailors’ helm, has been on the winning end of one-sided contests much

more than the other way around. He believes the major motivating factor

behind any decision to “call off the dogs,� comes down to the self-esteem

of the opposing athletes.

“We try to shut down fairly early and some of the best compliments

we’ve received have come from opposing coaches who have come across the

field and thanked us for doing that,� Brinkley said. “My philosophy is

that we want kids to enjoy playing and stay involved in athletics. We

don’t want to do things that discourage a kid or make him think ‘Why the

heck am I out here?’ I’ve been on both sides of it and getting beat,

70-0, is no fun.�

Brinkley, however, believes the successful execution of what Chick

Hearn listeners know as “garbage time,� requires the cooperation of

coaching staffs on both sidelines.

“When it gets to the point where my reserves are in the game, I want

both teams to line up and play it straight,� Brinkley said. “I’ll run the

ball, the other team tackles our guy, and we all go home. But I get upset

when the other team starts blitzing guys and trying to take my ball

carrier’s head off.�

Estancia Coach Jay Noonan, whose winless Eagles absorbed a 57-13

drubbing by Canyon this fall, believes the score is not the primary

indicator of whether a mismatch was or was not mismanaged.

“Canyon did not run it up on us,� Noonan said. “The score may suggest

that, but (Coach Brent McKee) ran his base offense, with his substitutes

in there, and I thought it was a very clean game.�

Noonan and his peers said there was no standard magic number or

specified lead that would prohibit the need to score. But, he said, a

coach should read each game situation and make the appropriate decision.

Time and score go into this decision, but Noonan’s personal rule of thumb

is usually three plays (the maximum point production from which

translates to 24 points: three TDs and a trio of two-point conversions).

Corona del Mar Coach Dick Freeman said he would not consider a

24-point lead invulnerable and, if passing gave his offense a chance to

keep making first downs with such a lead, he would not prohibit his team

from throwing.

“I just don’t think 24 points is that much,� he said.

A pass play late in a game that has been decided provides the

opportunity for the defeated coach to bristle. A two-point conversion or

gadget play attempted by the team with the lead, as well as the use of

timeouts to extend a scoring opportunity, are also potential flash points

for criticism.

Perkins said the circumstances around the touchdown pass in question

-- what he initially perceived as a Northwood ploy to deceive his defense

-- prompted his reaction perhaps more than the score or the decision to

pass (an independent and instinctive audible call made by the Northwood

quarterback, who changed the original run play called by Northwood

coaches when he saw his receiver uncovered at the line).

Perkins apologized Friday to Northwood Coach Rick Curtis for his

actions after Thursday’s game and told his Mustang players his behavior

was wrong.

Perkins deserves credit for both admissions, as well as some leeway in

light of the emotional aftermath of the Sept. 29 death of Mesa senior

linebacker Matt Colby. Colby, whom Perkins coached the previous two years

at Estancia, was his son A.J.’s best friend and someone the elder

Perkins had spent significant time with off the field.

Perkins, however, deserves the criticism his actions prompted, as much

as Northwood and Coach Rick Curtis deserved Perkins’ apology.