Parents from a North Texas high school claim the school's boys soccer team was robbed of a state championship.
Trinity Christian Academy, of Addison, defeated Plano's John Paul II High School in the state final, 2-1. John Paul II appealed the loss claiming a red card was incorrectly issued with 32 minutes to play.
Peirce Williams, who was named first team all-state, scored the game's first goal and took off his shirt to celebrate.
"They know the rules. If the rule was known or explained, it wouldn't have happened," said Trevor Glenn, a parent involved in the school's appeal. "I dug through all of the rules and I could not find anything about a red card."
The referee originally gave Williams a yellow card for unsportsmanlike conduct, but Glenn said TCA girls athletic director Jeff Smith, who was on the sideline as the school's administrator, stopped play and called Bryan Bunselmeyer, executive director of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, to review the call.
Bunselmeyer was present at the game and ordered the referee to change the call to a red card.
"We were really disappointed in how that championship game was played out," said Paul Williams, Peirce's father. "It did alter the outcome of the game."
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John Paul II played the remainder of the game with 10 players on the field.
"I think that was a big impact and we do feel cheated," said Glenn. "TAPPS told us the sanction is a red card and it has been a red card for six years as it relates to soccer, but it is not documented anywhere."
In a letter to John Paul II High School athletic director Kent Turner obtained by NBC 5, Bunselmeyer wrote, "The final decision of the Executive Board, as determined by majority vote, confirmed the final score and outcome of the contest as determined on the field of play. The final score shall remain in place."
Bunselmeyer also wrote, "The staff has been directed to review all rules pertaining to removal from a contest in all activities."
John Paul II finished the year with a record of 19-8-1.
