Irvington HS football team responds to backlash over 84-0 win vs. Belleville

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Photos by Steve Ellmore. Irvington (blue uniforms) vs. Belleville, Oct. 21

IRVINGTON, NJ (updated Friday Oct. 28, 5:14 p.m.) – The Irvington High School varsity football team defeated Belleville HS by a lopsided score of 84-0 at home on Saturday, Oct. 21.

While people have been in an uproar about what they perceived Irvington running up the score, first-year IHS athletic director, Dr. John Taylor, issued a statement about what happened in the game:

The following is Taylor’s statement:

“The October 21, 2017, varsity football game between Belleville and Irvington ended in a final score of 84-0. For individuals who read the box score, but did not attend the game, there may be an assumption that the Irvington coaching staff ran up the score. Anyone who attended the game or watched the film would conclude that the Irvington coaching staff attempted to minimize the final score in a variety of different ways.

The Irvington Athletic Department, coaches, and players demonstrate the highest quality of sportsmanship and respect while on and off the field. These are expectations that are non-negotiable.

The final score was caused by several occurrences throughout the game that the Irvington coaches did not anticipate. These occurrences include:

• At the 11:47 mark in the 1st quarter, Irvington went up 7-0 by returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown
• Irvington quickly got the ball back and scored another touchdown at the 8:11 mark in the 1st quarter to go up 14-0
• In the first seven minutes of the game, Belleville committed three turnovers that included an interception return for a touchdown, a fumble that Irvington brought back to the 1 yard line, and an improperly played kick that was returned to the 25 yard line.
• In these first seven minutes, the Irvington offense ran a total of 4 plays.
• Irvington Head Football Coach, Ashley Pierre, began to bring in members from his junior varsity squad in the first quarter to play defense, and by the end of the first quarter, the entire kickoff team consisted junior varsity players.
• Irvington returned a punt to Belleville’s red zone, with 3:57 left in the 1st quarter which resulted in a score of 35-0. Scoring five touchdowns in the first eight minutes of the game was not an intentional plan to run up the score. Irvington did not anticipate creating turnovers or gaining large amounts of yardage off punt returns to start drives in Belleville’s territory.
• At the 8:09 mark in the 2nd quarter, Irvington went up 56-0 after an interception was returned for a touchdown. At this point, the coaching staff took their entire varsity roster out of the game. Coach Pierre ordered the varsity players to take their shoulder pads and helmets off to show the Belleville coaching staff the starters were done for the day. The only starter who stayed in the game was our quarterback, who mostly handed the ball off until he was taken out at halftime.

• Once the junior varsity players were inserted into the game, the play calls involved mostly running plays between the tackles. Coach Pierre’s intentions were to gain 1-to-4 yards each play in order to get time off the clock. However, despite Irvington’s best intentions, the junior varsity players continued to score touchdowns from these plays designed to only gain minimal yardage. The coaching staff did not have the intention of turning these plays into 40 yard touchdown runs. However, a junior varsity player who has never played in a varsity game would not have the mindset to simply “go down” if they had the opportunity to score a touchdown.
• There were short passes thrown in the 2nd half of the game that were designed to obtain minimal yardage. However, Irvington ended up gaining substantial yardage from the short throws, which was not the intention of the play calling.
• The Irvington coaches anticipated that the Belleville coaching staff would keep their varsity squad in the game after the Irvington junior varsity players came onto the field. However, the Belleville coach began to field his team with sub-varsity players. The Irvington coaches wanted to provide the Belleville varsity players with opportunities for success on the field by playing against our JV squad. However, when the game became an Irvington-Belleville junior varsity match-up in 2nd quarter, Coach Pierre’s plan to help Belleville become more successful on the field was moot.
• In all, our freshman and sophomore sub-varsity players scored five touchdowns from the mid-2nd quarter through the end of the game. This was not planned by the coaching staff, and actually went against the intentions of their play-calling.
• In all, Irvington ran 17 plays in the first half, which included 4 passes. Coach Pierre’s play-calling throughout the first was not indicative of a team attempting to run up the score.
• Throughout the game, Irvington ran the play clock nearly to zero in order to drain more time of the game clock. Coach Pierre continued to mainly call running plays from the mid-2nd quarter to the end of the game.
• During the game, Belleville was assessed a 15-yard penalty during an extra point attempt, which was assessed on the following kick-off. Instead of having the Irvington kicker send the ball out of the end zone, Coach Pierre asked for a low, line drive kick. Coach Pierre wanted Belleville to have the opportunity to return the ball and obtain ideal field position rather than starting from their own 20 yard line. However, the Belleville returner fumbled the ball, and Irvington recovered. This low kickoff was not done to cause confusion amongst the Belleville return team. It was done to provide them with an opportunity to earn better field position and the outcome was not foreseen.
• At halftime, Coach Pierre went to the head official and asked if the game could be called. The head official said no, citing, “paperwork on that would be a hassle.” However, Coach Pierre then asked if there could be a running clock and the quarters could be shortened to ten minutes. These terms were agreed upon by the referees and the Belleville coaches. Coach Pierre also asked if the game could be called after the 3rd quarter, but the referees denied this request.
• On two separate occasions, the Irvington and Belleville athletic directors spoke about how to handle the game to help the Belleville players experience opportunities for success. While both athletic directors agreed the developments in the game were not ideal for the self-esteem and confidence for the Belleville players, there were no concrete suggestions provided by the Belleville athletic director regarding what else the Irvington coaches could have done to help the Belleville players experience more success.
• The Irvington district and high school administration spoke multiple times during the game about what should be done to minimize the impact the game would have on the Belleville players and community. We suggested asking Coach Pierre to have his quarterback kneel the ball throughout the second half. However, we were unsure if the Belleville players and coaching staff would appreciate this gesture. When this suggestion was mentioned to the Belleville athletic director, there was no direct response.

In the end, we believe the Irvington football coaches truly had the best interests of the Belleville players in mind. There were minimal passing plays in the game, the vast majority of plays called from the midway point of the 2nd quarter to the end of the game were designed runs up the middle, and it was the Irvington coaches who asked the referees for the running clock and to shorten quarters in the second half. Again, Coach Pierre asked for the game to be called off in the second half, and the referees did not honor this request.

The Irvington coaches, players, and administration regret any distress that may have been caused to the Belleville players, coaches, and community.

We encourage individuals to watch the game tape to see that our coaching staff did everything in their power to prevent the unfortunate outcome of the final score. We are always striving to make our program better, and we are always open to suggestions to accomplish this goal.”

  Belleville High School football, Irvington High School football