OPINION- Setback, or Rallying Point--Its Up To the Players

On Thursday afternoon, it was announced that the Liberty High School Football team would have to forfeit it's first two wins of the season after self reporting to the North Coast Section (NCS) an ineligible player being used. Wins of 50-30 over Concord and 48-7 over Merril West wiped from the record book. Prior to that announcement, Liberty was on its way to possibly their best start in 20 years going into homecoming against Hayward.

In a situation like this, one can assume there is much anger among players, coaches and parents. Anger with the player who was ineligible. Anger with the coach for not catching the problem sooner. Anger with administration for self-reporting the infraction. Anger with the NCS for imposing the penalty.

But the real question here is how will this incident affect the future of the football program. Will it be a set back or a rallying point.  That is entirely up to the players on the field.



After starting the season strongly, to have the wins you worked so hard for ripped from you, can make it very easy to become complacent and write the year off as a lost cause. To believe this would be the biggest set-back for this team and for this program.

While the record book may say that they are 0-2 now, no one can deny what actually took place on the field on those two Friday nights. Holding on to the fact that they have performed beyond most peoples expectations of them so early in the year can be the rallying point for them to pull from. Not only for this year, but for future teams to hear the story and be inspired by how this team rallied forward from a tough situation.

Again, it is up to the players on the field to decide how the story will be told.