Yes

In high school sports, there are no style points. A win is a win and a loss is a loss.
Unlike college sports, where winning by a lot can boost a team’s resume, winning by a lot does not help a team in any way.
The playoffs here are built off of record so a win by 50 means the same thing as a win by one.
In high school sports, it is unethical to run up the score, when it does the winning team no good and hurts the morale of the losing team.
Handling a blowout may not be an easy situation, but there are certainly ways to deal with it.
When the game is clearly over and it is clear that you have won no matter what happens the rest of the game, take out the starters.
First of all, it helps your team, because it takes out the risk of injury and it gets your backups real game time experience.
This also is the best way to not run up the score without being obnoxious about it.
If you keep your starters in who are clearly more dominant than the other team, and they just stop trying, that is more insulting to the other team than running up the score is.
The losing team wants to play against fair competition and by putting your backups in, you are turning the end of a blowout into a competitive situation.
One of the ways not to handle a blowout is to try not to score. In a sport like soccer, it is insulting to the goalie if you don’t take a shot the rest of the game.
That doesn’t mean to fire away and score 20 goals, which some teams have been doing against inferior competition, but it means to keep playing the game.
Don’t turn the game into a joke. You don’t need to go out and score 20 goals to show them you’re better.
I’m sure they would get the message from a 5-0 win and they probably would feel much better about themselves and toward your team.
Coaches have been fired for running up scores, because it is extraordinarily rude.
According to Fox News, girls basketball coach Micah Grimes was fired after her team won 100-0. Whether it is winning by over 100 in basketball, 80 in football, or 20 in soccer, you don’t gain or achieve anything by making the other team feel horrible about themselves.
I have been on both ends of the spectrum in basketball games, and it is way easier to be on the winning end of a blowout than the losing one.
The goal is never to run up the score, but to keep the effort level the same it has been the entire game.
To keep us from running up the score, my team would play backups, change defenses and not attack as frequently on offense.
On the losing end of blowouts, I have played against teams that have stopped trying, and there is nothing worse.

-Joey Voyta, Staff Writer

No

In sports when is enough enough? After the University of Maryland women’s basketball preseason matchup against a Division II opponent Bluefield State, a 129 point victory brought into question when continued scoring turns into bad etiquette. Some may some it’s cruel, but to me, there is never enough of a margin to say “let’s stop scoring.”
As a team football player, one of the easiest ways for a player to get hurt is slacking off and not trying. If a coach tells his players to take it easy on the field, the team getting beaten will still be going hard. This could result in severe injuries all because a team decided to stop trying their best.
In high school, many players have aspirations to play their respective sport at the next level. One thing coaches in college take into account when recruiting is player stats.
If a coach takes starters out the rest of the game to keep the score from going up, he is putting that player at a disadvantage. He will be losing a whole half of potential stats to help him get recruited.
For some players, sports are the only chance they have of going to college, so keeping them from playing to make the other team feel better is absurd. The only reasonable explanation for taking a player like this out is to prevent them from being injured.
One reason to keep running up the score is to eliminate any chance of a miracle comeback. Nobody wants to be the team on the news who lost a 42-point halftime lead in basketball or a five goal lead in soccer. The best way to prevent this scenario is to keep scoring until the clock runs out.
The morale of a team is also vital to its success. Leaving a game after dominating the other team for the entire game is one of the most satisfying and electrifying feelings one could only understand after experiencing it themselves. After coming off of a defeat, big or small, destroying your opponent the next chance you get will not only bring the team back together, but boost morale with a crushing victory.
There is only one time in which I would say running up the score is unacceptable. When there is so little time that a comeback is no longer feasible. Then and only then is it unethical and unsportsmanlike to keep scoring. But that time doesn’t come until the other team has absolutely zero chance of coming back and winning.
Running up the score has been frowned upon in a society that believes everyone deserves a medal and award for just participating. It is time to stop coddling kids and when a team is able to utterly terminate another team, they should do so without reservation.
The stigma that running the score up is unsportsmanlike should be forgotten, because running up the score is the only true way to ensure a victory for one’s team.

-Geoff Pisarra, News Editor