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Following Norwich Free Academy’s 51-0 varsity football victory over Stamford on Saturday October 20, NFA has elected to self-impose a penalty of a one-game suspension for varsity football coach
Jemal Davis for violation of the CIAC Score Management policy as written in the CIAC Football Tournament Packet. The CIAC review committee accepted this decision and no further action will be taken. The suspension will be for the game on Saturday at Bacon Academy.

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After a review of reports received from both schools involved and the game officials in regards to Joel Barlow High School's 56-0 varsity football victory over Immaculate High School on Saturday, it has been determined that the proper sportsmanship protocols as written in the CIAC Football Tournament Packet were followed, and that there was no violation of the CIAC Score Management policy by the winning school's head coach. Due to this fact the review committee will not take any action against Joel Barlow High School in regards to Saturday's game.

On Friday, Masuk defeated Stratford 56-0, violating the CIAC's score management policy, which occurs when a team wins by more than 50 points. As a penalty, the winning coach could face a one-game suspension.

However, the CIAC decided that Masuk coach John Murphy took the necessary action to control the game.

Here is the statement from the CIAC:

After a review of reports received from both schools involved and the game officials in regards to Masuk High School's 56-0 varsity football victory over Stratford High School on Friday, it has been determined that the proper sportsmanship protocols were followed, and that there was no violation of the CIAC Score Management policy by the winning school's head coach. Due to this fact the review committee will not take any action against Masuk High School in regards to Friday's game.

The CIAC decided not to take any action against Northwest Catholic and its head coach Mike Tyler for violating the state's score management policy in a 52-0 win over Weaver on Saturday. Read about the ruling here.

A team violates the policy when they defeat an opponent by more than 50 points. If a team is found in violation, the head coach could face a one-game suspension.

Here's some information from Matt Fischer, the director of information services at the CIAC, in response to an e-mail I sent him regarding the policy.

Since the policy went into effect for the 2006 season, there have been five games with margins in excess of 50 points. (Four out of 3,565 games played from 2006-2010.)

Northwest Catholic 52, Weaver 0 (9/24/11)

Enfield 52, Wilcox 0 (11/21/08)

Berlin 57, Farmington 0 (10/12/07)

East Hartford 60, Fermi 0 (9/29/06)

Bridgeport Central 56, Bassick 0 (9/15/06)

In three of the four previous cases before 2011, the penalty was overturned on appeal with East Hartford being the exception.

Compare that to the 2005 season where there were 20 games over 50 points, including scores such as 90-0, 64-0, 67-6 and 77-6.

Fischer said that "the CIAC reviews all of its policies regularly and will make adjustments or changes as appropriate. The policy was changed this year from being an automatic suspension to an automatic review. Part of the reason for that change is a feeling by the committee that a vast majority of coaches are doing what they are supposed to be doing. This policy will be regularly reviewed and monitored just as all of our policies are."

Northwest Catholic defeated Fermi 52-0 on Saturday, breaking the score management policy established by the CIAC.

When this occurs, according to the policy, the principals of both the winning and losing teams and the referee/head official that officiated the game shall submit a report to the CIAC Football Committee attesting as to whether the winning team’s head coach did or did not follow established score management protocols for good sportsmanship in the game. This report will be filed using the CIAC Eligibility Center no later than 48 hours after the conclusion of the game.

If it is determined that a violation occurred, the following penalty shall be in effect:
Disqualification Rule – The head coach shall be ineligible to participate in the next contest at the same level of play (even if the next contest does not occur until league or CIAC tournament play or next year).

Click here to read the policy.


According to Matt Fischer, the director of information services, the CIAC will get reports from both schools and the officials on Monday. Once the CIAC has those reports, the decision will be made by a group including:

Executive Director (or her designee)
Chair of Football Committee
Chair of CIAC board
A coach
An athletic director

The exact timing would depend on when the CIAC get the reports, but the CIAC would expect the committee to talk Monday or Tuesday, according to Fischer.