Are the TSSAA's recent penalties about post-game football brawls teaching an unfortunate lesson?

On Thursday night, MTSN closed out its sixth season of high school football coverage, featuring LaVergne shockingly crushing Siegel 56-23 to nail down its first playoff berth since 2006. In the fourth quarter, after Roshea Grays scored his third rushing touchdown of the night from eight yards out, LaVergne offensive lineman Charlie Heughan and Siegel defensive lineman Isahia Gooch became entangled and started throwing punches at each other, leading to their ejections. The officials were quick to break up the fight, and both teams' coaching staffs did a great job in keeping their sidelines calm.

Earlier in the evening, on the Eastern side of the state, Daniel Boone and David Crockett engaged in battle while shaking hands following another rendition of their classic rivalry, the Musket Bowl. WJHL, a CBS affiliated located in Johnson City, captured three Crockett players pulling a Boone player out of the handshake line, and throwing him to the ground. Multiple Boone players charged in to aid their teammate, and all hell broke loose. A fan who came on to the field was arrested for shoving a cop.

Six days prior, in Memphis, as Hillcrest celebrated a win over Mitchell, a player from the losing team prepared to hit a Hillcrest player with his helmet. A Hillcrest coach stepped in between, took the blow, and twisted his ankle while falling. A brawl which included fans ensued.

All four teams have been banned from the next three postseasons, including this upcoming one, and fines totaling $4,750. They are all appealing the punishments. It's especially unfortunate for Hillcrest and Mitchell, who were going to finish in the Top 2 in District 16-A, earning themselves first-round byes for the Class 2A playoffs.

Siegel and LaVergne will be fined for the fight, since players were ejected, but because it didn't escalate into all-out mayhem, nothing else will come of it. A week prior, we featured Siegel taking on Blackman, where not one, but two scuffles broke out: one during the first quarter on the Siegel sideline, and the other right at the end of the game, when a spearing tackle against Blackman's Jauan Jennings caused tempers to flare. The latter scuffle forced Siegel head coach Greg Wyant to make his team leave the field without shaking hands as a preventative measure. Nothing of note came from either of those two incidents.

That leads to this question: Is the TSSAA sending the message that it's better to fight during the game than after or before? It sure looks like it. Think about the scenarios: in the Hillcrest-Mitchell and Boone-Crockett brawls, the game was over, and everyone was on the field, off the sidelines. Sure, the officials are outnumbered during play, but when the game is going on, they only have to keep 22 players in check. When everyone is brawling, the officials are completely outnumbered, because now, you're talking about close to, maybe even more than, 100 people on the field, all centering around an altercation.

Officials - and quick-thinking teammates - were able to break up the Heughan-Gooch fight without any further incident because it happened while the game was going on, and everyone else was on the sidelines - or in the stands - like they were supposed to be. It may have been in a dead ball situation, but, the game was taking place. Same with the first Siegel-Blackman skirmish the week prior. In the end, both altercations were minor incidents. The Hillcrest-Mitchell and Boone-Crockett brawls overshadowed the game, and, in the case of the latter, made headlines all across the state, even leading off newscasts in the Tri-Cities. It goes from a minor incident to a disgrace, and must be dealt with accordingly, though, banning the four teams from just this postseason instead of the next three is probably a better punishment.

So, lesson learned, high school football programs of Tennessee: if you're gonna fight, do it during a game, not before or after. And to everyone on the sidelines and in the stands, make sure you stay on the sidelines, and in the stands, or else, you risk your team's postseason eligibility.