Little League Coach Fined and Suspended for 8-Year Old's TD

((ht: cbs46.com))

When is an interception return for a touchdown in the 4th quarter of a game costly?

When it happens in a little league game where there is a mercy rule and the TD return exceeded it.

That's what happened over the weekend in Lawrenceville, Georgia. The Lawrenceville Black Knights were beating Collins Hill 32-0, when 8-year old Elijah Burrell intercepted a pass and started returning it for a TD. That broke a Gwinnett Football League rule that says a 33 point spread in a game is enough for the game to be called.

The coach of the Black Knights, who for some reason was NOT named in the story, was fined $500 and suspended for a game.

Parents and the kids, mostly 8 and 9 year olds are chipping in to pay for their coaches defense.

Erik Richards of the Gwinnett Football league told Atlanta TV Station CBS46 that the Knights laid on the ground, ran off the field and mocked the other team. Which is why he is enforcing the penalty.

Which is fine, but begs a question that nobody has appeared to ask? Why didn't the refs call the game at 32-0? If the letter of the law is 33 points is the difference, this would have happened at the 1st attempt the Black Knights made at scoring. There was no way for them NOT to break the rule.

So why all the hullabaloo? We don't know, the whole thing sounds silly...

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