Oregon high school football coach fired after 63-0 win, multiple onside kicks

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A high school football coach in Oregon was fired shortly after a 63-0 win in a game that was called at halftime.

Marist Catholic High School in Eugene, Ore., fired head coach Zach Loboy after the Spartans not only ran up the score against a Cottage Grove High School team that had only 16 players available, but also attempted two onside kicks, including one with just under two minutes left to play in the first half when the score was 56-0, per USA Today. Despite failing to recover the second onside kick, Marist scored again with less than 30 seconds left after intercepting a pass.

Marist athletic director Rick Gardner, Cottage Grove athletic director Garrett Bridgens and Lane County Football Association commissioner Mike Whitty decided not to play the second half.

Loboy’s dismissal was announced in an email sent to parents after the game, and school principal Bob Fraley wrote that the decision “was necessary to reflect our school’s mission and values,” according to KVAL.

“It wasn’t a forfeit; it wasn’t that our coaches and players did not want to continue,” Bridgens told the Register-Guard. “We were working in the best interest of our kids, our fans — the entire situation — to do what was best for everyone. This was the ADs and the commissioner of officials working together to make that decision.”

Gardner told the outlet that Loboy’s conduct in the win “is really not reflective of the school’s mission and how we want to treat our opponents.

“Our athletic program tries to adhere to the mission and the values of Marist Catholic High School,” he said. “In this particular case, we definitely fell short.”

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