Mississippi high school coach fined and suspended for intentionally throwing game
By Jacob Moss
Published:
The College Football Playoff may still be over a month away, but high school teams all around the country are already gearing up for their respective state playoff tournaments as they look to chase down a state championship.
Anybody who has lived in the south understands how massive high school football is to the region, and they also know that players and coaches are willing to do just about anything to bring back a state title to their hometown.
For one Mississippi private school head coach, that means purposely losing his team’s final game of the regular season in order to get a more favorable draw in the state tournament.
According to Football Scoop’s Doug Samuels, Marshall Academy, based in Holly Springs, Mississippi, entered their final game of the regular season at 8-1 and needed a win over the Washington School, which was also 8-1, to secure a district title.
A win in this game would also secure the victor a slot in the much harder half of the Mississippi private school playoff bracket, while the loser would find themselves with a far more favorable path to a state title.
Given this reality, Marshall Academy head coach Chris Burino decided to purposely lose the final game of the regular season to secure the more favorable draw in the state tournament, sitting at least 13 starters and taking multiple delay of game penalties while already down by over 40 points, among other questionable in-game decisions.
The Mississippi high school athletic association naturally caught on to what Burino was trying to do, and they fined him $1,000 and gave him an indefinite suspension. They also fined the school and banned it from hosting any home playoff games.
