Connecticut's Blowout Rule

SCORECARD, JUNE 5, 2006

IT SHOULD have been a magical moment. Late in the fourth quarter of Bridgeport ( Conn.) Central's Sept. 15 game against rival Bassick High, Central's Paul Lumfuakiadi ran up the middle 24 yards for his first varsity touchdown. Hilltoppers fans were thrilled for the third-string sophomore, right? Not quite. Says AD Eric Graf, "I heard someone say, 'What is that kid doing?'"

Lumfuakiadi's TD made the final score Central 56, Bassick 0--and made coach Dave Cadelina (below) the first violator of the state's "score-management" rule, which calls for a one-game suspension for coaches who win by 50 points. Says Cadelina, "I was nervous they might make an example out of me."

Luckily for him, the rule isn't hard and fast. Cadelina appealed to the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, explaining how he tried to avoid blowing out Bassick, which came in riding a 46-game losing streak. He pulled his starters in the first half; the clock ran continuously after Central took a 35--0 first-quarter lead; in the second half Central did nothing but run between the tackles. The CIAC upheld the appeal--thanks mainly to Bassick coach George Loughery's support of it--and Cadelina was coaching when Central beat Trumbull 52--21 last Thursday. "If George wasn't so adamant about us not running up the score," says Cadelina, "I'd probably be suspended."