On November 22, 2014, the Rifle High School Football Team beat Fort Morgan 35-7 to advance to the State Championship game for the second time in three years. Also that day, someone filming the game apparently encroached into a protected area of the field–too close to Fort Morgan’s team box. Since schools are responsible for any “media” covering their team during a game, the Colorado High School Athletic Association imposed sanctions against the team, meaning they are prohibited from any post-season play and Head Coach Damon Wells must sit out the first game of the season.
However, reached this morning, CHSAA Assistant Commissioner Bert Borgmann explained, those sanctions will be removed once the school “…has addressed the violation and put procedures in place to ensure that the violation will not occur again. Those procedures are developed and implemented by the school and reviewed by the CHSAA.”
Borgmann says once those procedures are in place, reviewed by CHSAA staff and approved by the Board of Directors, “…then the program and any personnel that might have been included in the restriction, can have that restriction lifted and then will be placed on probation. The playoff prohibition is lifted when a school is removed from restriction.”
