A tale of two kickoffs

Before Saturday's WestPAC game between Conemaugh Valley and Rockwood at Rockwood Athletic Field, team captains gathered at midfield for the pregame coin toss.

Rockwood won the toss and, according to head coach Jerry Kaizen, the captains were instructed to defer to the second half. When the players returned to the Rockets' bench, that's what they told there head coach.

So, Rockwood kicked off to Conemaugh Valley to start the game, which the Blue Jays won 25-0 to improve to 3-4.

Trailing 22-0 at halftime, Rockwood took a little extra time in the locker room, in part because several players were part of the homecoming festivities. As they hurriedly prepared for the third quarter, the officials informed the Rockets they would be kicking off to start second half.

Say what?

Didn't Rockwood kickoff to start the first quarter?

"There was a fluke in the coin toss. My kids tells me he deferred," Kaizen said. "The refs says he tells me we want to kick."

That means the team kicks off to start the first and third quarters.

It rarely, if ever, happens.

Kaizen knew the rule and, according to him, when he spoke with the officials after halftime, he asked them why they failed to approach him after the coin toss because as he said, "the ref told me he'd never heard a team do that before."

For a depleted team searching for something, the second-half kickoff added to this season's woes.

"We laid out the whole first series and what we wanted to do," Kaizen said. "It was a little disheartening."

And it made little sense considering Conemaugh Valley ran the football 61 times and the Rockets' defense struggled to get off the field despite a strong effort from its defensive front.