The fallout from the series of fights during the McCurdy-Laguna Acoma game Oct. 11 has taken a toll on the Bobcats’ season.
The game was called in the middle of the second quarter with the teams tied at 6-all and it was originally thought to have been ruled a tie. But following an investigation of the transgressions involved, McCurdy took a loss via forfeit.
New Mexico Activities Association spokesman JP Murrieta wrote in a text that the Bobcats coach told the officiating crew at the game “that they could not continue the game due to a lack of players and would thus have to forfeit.”
But Monday, Sarah Tario, McCurdy School director and interim athletic director, said she was seeking more information on the forfeiture because it was her understanding that the team could have continued despite having four players ejected.
“That’s one of the things I’m asking for clarification on,” she said. “It seems like an extra sanction to call it forfeit so I’m asking them to reconsider.”
Since the game, McCurdy interim head coach Mel Martinez has not responded to repeated requests for comment on the situation.
McCurdy had five players receive one-game suspensions, Tario said, leaving the Bobcats with a short roster again so they could not field a full team for last week’s scheduled game against Cuba and that, too, has been ruled a forfeit. That leaves the Bobcats with a 4-4 record and 1-2 in District 1-2A. It also gives McCurdy three forfeit losses on the season as the Bobcats also did not have enough players to compete against Legacy Academy on Sept. 20.
NMAA officials declined to discuss details of the investigation, but Murietta said in a text that “multiple individuals” were disciplined by both schools. Original reports showed that six Hawks players and four McCurdy players were ejected from the Oct. 11 game, according to Tario.
Additionally, both teams and fan bases were saddled with a strike, Murrieta said.
A strike, as defined by the NMAA handbook, is an “egregious act of unsportsmanlike conduct by a team participant, including a coach,” and specifically, “non-compliance with sport-specific rules and NMAA policies, including behaviors incompatible with ‘Compete with Class’ and the interscholastic educational objective.”
Two such strikes in the same season by coaches or players results in the team’s suspension from participating in that activity for the remainder of the season and should the fan base receive a second strike, all school spectators will be suspended from attendance in that activity for the remainder of the season, according to the handbook.
Meanwhile, the continual lack of players has become a concern, Tario said, and the school may have to consider moving to eight-man football, a move that nearby Escalante was forced to take prior to the 2024 season.
“It’s hard when you’re at a small school, it’s hard to have enough players to safely play,” she said. “In terms of their status, we have plans to have a discussion to look at fielding an eight-man team. The popularity of high school football has declined nationwide. We want to meet our kids where they are and for them to be safe.”