A Philadelphia-area football team will take to the field for a regional semifinal without its head coach after he was suspended with pay following after one of his players was accused of committing a student code violation.
As first reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Penns Grove (N.J.) High football coach Kemp Carr has been suspended for an undisclosed student code violation committed by one of his players. While the school refused to specify which part of the student code Carr's unnamed player had violated, two sources within the program told Inquirer staff writer Phil Anastasia that the violation was committed when Carr allowed a player who was involved in a fight at practice to compete in the team's first round playoff game in the Southern Jersey Group 1 tournament on Saturday.
Penns Grove won that matchup against Paulsboro (N.J.), 36-8, but that victory appears to have come at the cost of the team's coach.
"We want to have a full investigation and allow for due process," Penns Grove-Carneys Point school district superintendent Joseph Massare told the Inquirer.
While Penns Grove made the decision to suspend Carr unilaterally, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association has no firm rules on whether a player who is involved in an internal skirmish must be forced to sit out future games.
Rather, it appears that Penns Grove officials interpreted a practice ground fight between two players during the heated tension of playoff preparation as identical to a full fledged school fight, which would have triggered an automatic suspension from school or related extracurricular activities.
Whether or not that is really a fair penalty for Carr is a valid question, particularly since its unknown whether Carr was made aware of the school's desire to have the player in question sit out before the game.
Regardless, Penns Grove now finds itself in the thick of the playoffs without its coach, and with Carr's future as the school's boys basketball coach also suddenly in question, with Massare claiming that his status in that position was, "still to be determined."
Want more on the best stories in high school sports? Visit RivalsHigh or connect with Prep Rally on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.