Texas High School Football Team Accused of 'Bullying' for Winning

Texas High School Football Team Accused of 'Bullying' for Winning

A high school football team in Texas has been accused of “bullying” after routing an opponent 91-0 in a game last Friday. 

Aledo High School’s football team has been enjoying a great season this year, but after the recent 91-0 shellacking, a parent of the defeated team decided the lopsided win was “bullying” and filed charges against Aledo High’s coaching staff.

The Aledo High School Bearcats, in Parker County, Texas, were not likely to lose to the Western Hills Cougars. But after the 91-0 rout, it was after the game that folks really got riled up when the “bullying” charges were filed by a Cougars parent.

Aledo coach Tim Buchanan said that by halftime, when the score was 56 to 0 in his favor, he began subbing in the backup players in a conscious effort not to run up the score, but even his back-bench players had the run of the field.

On the other hand, Buchanan said he did not want to push the message that his players should not continue to strive to be the best they could be by telling them to stop playing so hard.

“I would never ask our kids not to play hard,” Buchanan said. “I would never tell them, ‘Go out and let them score’. That’s not what you want to teach kids.”

But Buchanan said he attempted to keep things manageable.

“You don’t want to embarrass… I’ve been on the other side of those scores. In 2011, Lake Travis scored 62 points on us. That doesn’t feel good. It doesn’t make the kids feel good,” Buchanan told CBS 11 news.

Still, a formal complaint has been filed and the school district is bound to take that seriously. Aledo Superintendent Derek Citty said that they will investigate the charges.

“We have to do an investigation and make sure there’s no legitimacy to it,” Citty said.

Coaching staff from Western Hills refused to comment publicly on the situation.

CBS 11 obtained the formal complaint by the Western Hills parent:

My son plays for western hills football team on friday night we all witnessed bullying firsthand, it is not a pretty sight. Picking up my son from the field house after the game and taking him home was tough, I did not know what to say on the ride home to explain the behavior of the aledo coach for not easing up when the game was in hand. After thinking about my ride home, I thought how tough it must have been for the parents of the aledo football players to explain what happened o their sons on the ride home. During the game the aledo players showed respect to my son and I thank them for their good sportsmanship. I wish the aledo players good luck this season and hope they have a successful school year. I wish their parents don’t have to explain this ride home again

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