Kansas School Keeps Sportsmanship in Mind

By Bob Herman

It sounds implausible that 72 points can be scored in one quarter of a football game. Even more implausible is the thought that accomplishing such a feat could be done in a sportsmanlike manner. But Smith Center (Kansas) High School busted both myths October 30.

Smith Center defeated Plainville (Kansas) High School, 83-0, in a Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) 2A-1A bi-district playoff game, and six first-quarter turnovers by Plainville led to the scoring torrent.

"They're a very talented team," Plainville head coach John Petrie said. "You give them a short field, and there's not much you can do."

The 72-point quarter is a national record, but that was far from the minds of Smith Center head coach Roger Barta and his players.

"We didn't know what to do," Barta said. "It snowballed and got out of hand. We did everything we could do. It was just one of those situations. We had no idea that it was a record or anything - we weren't trying to run up the score."

Smith Center finished the game with 482 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns, and extended its winning streak to 50 games.

"We've won three straight championships, and we have an outstanding group of seniors," Barta said. "They're very mature, and they know the game of football."

Barta began substituting players after four minutes of play, and everyone on Smith Center's 46-player roster made it on the field.

"We had all our young kids in," Barta said. "They practice hard, and they deserved a chance to play. And they played well. Our young kids have some experience now."

After the first half had ended, the game was out of reach for Plainville, and Barta told his team that scoring a touchdown in the second half was not an option.

Consequently, a running clock was also enforced. Running clocks are not normally used in Kansas football playoff games unless the circumstance calls for it, but the coaches and KSHSAA officials deemed it was appropriate.

"Because of the circumstances, it was probably the best thing to do for the safety of kids and everything else," Petrie said.

Smith Center entered the game as an 8-0 team against 4-5 Plainville, and Petrie believes that Smith Center still showcased sportsmanship in a game that turned quickly.

"I can't fault him for anything he did," Petrie said. "Coach (Barta) has been coaching for more than 30 years, and he's a class act. It was handled as best as it could've been. It was out of control, but it was something that snowballed on all of us.

"There are no hard feelings, and there's not much you can do about it."

John Gillis, NFHS assistant director and editor of the National High School Sports Record Book, explained that a record such as this - 72 points in one quarter - needs to have the right intent and should exemplify the true spirit of interscholastic competition. He said running up scores simply to set a record or for potential inclusion in the Record Book are not consistent with the National High School Records Committee's sportsmanship statement, but this game did display the ideals of good sportsmanship.

"By all indications, it sounds like Smith Center did what it could do," Gillis said. "Whenever a national record is set, we're excited about it, but at the same time, we hope that it was set in a sportsmanlike manner."

Even though Plainville was also knocked out of the playoffs, Petrie and his team still took something positive out of the game.

"You try to put things in perspective," Petrie said. "Young people have to deal with adversity, and this was definitely an adverse situation. For the psyche of a teenager's mind, this is devastating. But once they get older, they could use this as a lesson. Things happen for a reason."

Bob Herman is a fall semester intern in the NFHS Publications/Communications Department. He is a junior at Butler (Indiana) University, majoring in journalism (news editorial) and minoring in Spanish.