High School Football Coach Resigns Over Accusations He Ran Up The Score

A high school football coach in Arizona resigned after school officials accused him of running up the score during the Homecoming game. The La Joya Community High School Lobos defeated Copper Canyon High School by a score of 60-0 on Friday (September 27) night.

In the third quarter of the game, with the Lobos leading by more than 30 points, La Joya's principal, Stacie Almaraz, approached the Lobos' Athletic Director and told him to ask the coach, Devin Dourisseau, to "dial it down."

Dourisseau did not appear to get the message as his players continued to put up points against their out-matched opponent. After they scored a few more touchdowns, Almaraz went back down to the sidelines to voice her displeasure with what was happening.

"My principal comes over and catches my [athletic director] and asks him, 'How many points do you plan on scoring this evening?'" said Dourisseau. "He tells her hopefully that's it, and she said, 'It better be if you want [Dourisseau] on the sidelines next week.'"

Dourisseau says he didn't try to run up the score and pointed to the fact that he had taken the starters out of the game, and that some of the points were scored by the defense and special teams.

"I'm not gonna stop my boys from playing hard," he said. "These boys are trying to get scholarships. I'm going to coach my kids to the best of their abilities, and I'm not going to have them back down or lay down simply because the team that we're playing is not one hundred percent up to the task."

Copper Canyon coach Sean Freeman defended Dourisseau and said that he did not believe the coach was not trying to run up the score. 

"We shook hands, and that was that," Freeman told AZ Central. "When I got a phone call today (that Dourisseau was out as coach), I was surprised. To me, it was not that big a deal. We just got beat fair and square. It's football. And if you're not showing up with your A-game, that's what happens."

After meeting with school officials, Dourisseau tendered his resignation and members of his coaching staff were considering doing the same. The next day he had a change of heart and rescinded his resignation. He hopes the school board will reinstate him as the head coach before his team's next game.

"We are poised to run the table and go to the playoffs for the second time in La Joya's history," said Dourisseau.


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