Cathedral questions Super controversy

By Dan Ventura

 

Cathedral quarterback Matt Owens sprinted past two Blue Hills defenders and was on his way to the end zone and a potential go-ahead score.

With less than 20 yards away from paydirt and nothing but open space in front of him, Owens clenched his left hand and raised it to the sky.

Unfortunately, that one act, seemingly harmless in the eyes of many in attendance at yesterday’s Division 4A Super Bowl at Bentley University, ran afoul of the new MIAA rule directed at sportsmanship.

Owens was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct and the ball was spotted back to the 24. An interception one play later ended Cathedral’s final scoring threat in an eventual 16-14 loss, ending the most successful football season in school history.

After the game, Cathedral coach Duane Sigsbury was quoted in the Sunday Boston Herald as saying, “If you are going to take a game away from a kid being excited because he just made the play of his life shame on you.”

Reached last evening, Sigsbury politely declined comment on advice of school officials. Cathedral athletic director Jimmy Lynch tried to be as diplomatic as possible, but admitted the on-field ruling was a concern to him.

“It’s an unfortunate way to end a great game with two great teams,” Lynch said. “I’ve spoken with people in our school and we’d like to get a further clarification of the rule from the MIAA.”

Joe Cacciatore, the assigner for officials in the Catholic Conference and Greater Boston League sympathized with Cathedral, but was quick to defend his comrades in their handling of the situation.

“It’s tough, but the official absolutely made the right call according to the letter of the law,” Cacciatore said. “It says it right there in the rules that any attempt to draw attention to yourself, whether it is pointing the finger, raising a fist or anything like that, is a penalty.

“We’ve been instructed to call it when it happens, it’s zero tolerance now. I served as a liaison for the two semifinal games at Andover Tuesday night, and that was one of the first thing we talked about with the coaches and captains.”

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/high_school/football/view.bg?articleid=1386049