Deer Park High School — nice logo, questionable in-game decisions.
How much is too much?
Two recent high school games, in different sports and different states, have showcased when teams go beyond winning big, and just win ugly.
One has drawn national attention, and the other probably should.
The first came in California, where Inglewood thrashed Morningside 106-0 on the football gridiron, with the former team leaving their UCLA-bound quarterback in the entire way as he threw for 13 touchdowns.
Up 104-0, that QB even tossed a two-point conversion pass after the last TD, cause … stats.
“It was a classless move,” was the quote offered up by Morningside’s first-year head coach, Brian Collins, whose team is 2-8.
Here in Washington state, there was an even more shocking score, as Deer Park, the #3 seed in 1A girls soccer, opened the state tourney by blitzing Royal 20-0.
The Stags reportedly also left their star player, who is on her way to play on scholarship at the University of Oregon, in the entire way, with her rattling home six goals.
The difference here is Royal, unlike Morningside, is good.
Even with the season-ending loss, the Knights were 12-8 and were one of the final 16 teams standing in 1A.
But they ran into a team in Deer Park which had no issue with recording 19-0, 15-1, 13-0, 12-0, and three separate 11-0 wins against overmatched opponents this season.
A second-hand quote on Twitter, attributed to the Royal coach, went like this:
“We needed to keep playing and we did what we could against a side that was better and clearly wanted to make a statement of some kind.
“No history here, so I don’t know, but congrats to them.”
With the lopsided win, Deer Park advances to a quarterfinal matchup with King’s, which beat La Salle 8-0 in its opener.
Two more wins, and the Stags will likely play top-seeded Klahowya for a state title.
And those Eagles make for a strong contrast with Deer Park.
While going 16-0-2, including a 5-1 win over Wahluke in its state opener, Klahowya has outscored its foes 105-4.
Deer Park, at 17-1, has rung up a 148-9 advantage.
Unlike the Stags, however, Klahowya often pulled players this season, taking an 11-9 disadvantage on the pitch, while limiting itself to a season-high of nine goals.
The Eagles have won convincingly, with their ties coming against Bellevue Christian — their state quarterfinal opponent — and 2A Fife, but have chosen not to rub it in the faces of their rivals.
Deer Park’s 19-0 regular-season win came at the expense of winless Medical Lake, so … yay for you, Stags. You really proved … something.
And that 20-0 state win?
Deer Park was up 9-0 at the half, in a sport where about 1% of teams come back from a two-goal deficit, and still felt the need to ring up 11 more scores.
That 106-0 football win, even if nearly all the PATs or two-point conversions failed, couldn’t have had more than 17 touchdowns.
While anything that starts with 100+ points being involved looks outlandish, Deer Park’s win actually involved more scoring.
Against a team which was blown out long before the ball stopped hitting the back of the net.
High school football at least has a running clock, which helps a bit.
Softball, where Coupeville beat Deer Park 14-2 at the state tourney in 2019, has a mercy rule, as well.
There is nothing similar in soccer, though most coaches, such as Klahowya’s, find a way to balance their team winning convincingly, and looking like power-mad asses.
Winning 20-0 on the soccer field, whether it’s against scrubs or a state tourney qualifier, is a bad look. Pure and simple.
Especially when Deer Park’s own Twitter claims:
Stag Athletics emphasizes the proper ideals of sportsmanship, ethical conduct, and fair play.
Uh huh.
Whether it’s fair or not to the young women who wear the Deer Park soccer uniforms, it makes an outsider such as myself root for them to lose.
Does that mean I have to … choke … hope for former Coupeville nemesis King’s to do well?
Well, that might be asking for too much.
But, if not before, I certainly hope Deer Park gets KO’d by former Coupeville nemesis Klahowya, a team which has shown you can be dominant while still maintaining some class.
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