Could controversial targeting call cost Elijah Young a Mr. Football award?

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I didn’t believe the tweet when I saw it.

We had just finished our “5Star Live” show on social media. So I picked up the phone to see what I’d missed in the past 30 minutes.

Apparently a lot.

Someone tagged our @5StarPreps account Friday night on a final score for the South-Doyle at Seymour game.

Seymour 7. South-Doyle 3.

Impossible, I thought. This is simply some fake news tweet by some kid, who’s trying to get me to retweet this as a joke or something. That happens every now and then, you know. A media outlet gets duped, mindlessly hitting the like or retweet button during a casual timeline scroll on Twitter.

But then, another tweet came in — with visual proof.

There, in blaring scoreboard bulbs, the 7-3 final was confirmed.

Final score Seymour 7 South Doyle 3 #GoEagles pic.twitter.com/6WQignew9x

— Seymour High School (@seyhigheagles) October 5, 2019

How did this happen? I’ve been covering high school football for almost 20 years now. I know when a blowout is imminent. South-Doyle entered Week 7 with a 5-1 mark and boasts numerous next-level players, including Missouri tailback commitment Elijah Young.

I mean, sure, South-Doyle still didn’t have starting quarterback Mason Brang. But this was the Cherokees’ fourth game without him, and backup Nick Martin had logged convincing wins over Sevier County and Carter in Weeks 5 and 6. South-Doyle was still a Top 10 team in our 5Star Preps rankings. Meanwhile, Seymour had been routed by Carter and Central and entered Week 7 with a 2-4 mark.

South-Doyle sends us a stats package and box score after each game, so I started digging there.

First thing I noticed? I didn’t see Young’s name anywhere. It’s the first thing I look for every Friday night when the Cherokees’ stats come in, to see how many yards he logged. He led all area backs through six weeks with more than 1,000 yards rushing and 23 scores on the ground.

But on Friday, against Seymour, nothing?

Maybe he got hurt in pregame. He’s a great kid, so I can’t imagine him having any off-the-field issues. Death in the family?

After a few texts and DMs on Twitter, we learned that Young had been ejected on the fifth play of the game for a targeting call during a punt return.

Whoa.

Somebody explain to me how this is targeting on @elijahyoung52 ??

Hope the TSSAA does the right thing and overturns this. pic.twitter.com/eizfZREbGm

— Jesse Smithey (@5StarPreps) October 5, 2019

Finally, the score made a little more sense. But still, South-Doyle had way more talent than the Eagles. Noah Myers filled in admirably for Young, rushing for 82 yards on 15 carries. He’s more of a linebacker by trade, though.

Credit Seymour for the win. They held South-Doyle to 114 yards rushing, 110 yards passing, intercepted two passes and kept the Cherokees scoreless after Ewan Johnson’s 29-yard field goal with 4 minutes, 45 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

South-Doyle was plagued by penalties all night, even after Young’s targeting call. They received 13 penalties for 119 yards against Seymour’s nine for 131.

So, now Young’s season comes to a halt. Not only did he not get to strengthen his 2019 Class 5A Mr. Football Award campaign against Seymour, he also — per the TSSAA’s ejection rule — won’t get to play in the team’s next game, Oct. 18 against visiting Halls (5-2).

Remember, the Mr. Football Award is for regular-season performance only. There is a round of preliminary votes from media and coaches. Then, a committee convenes a few days after the regular season ends to review all the preliminary votes, discuss the top vote getters, maybe introduce a few new hopefuls and then vote.

I’ve been in Mr. Football committee meetings for years. And I can recall debating a few isolated cases with certain marquee players not getting to play a full 10-game regular season because of injury or disciplinary reasons.

However, I can’t recall a discussion over a targeting call and its ripple effect through a candidate’s season.

But there will most likely be one.

The best thing that could happen for Young is that South-Doyle appeals the decision to the TSSAA and gets the mandated one-game suspension overturned. And South-Doyle has confirmed the call will be appealed. There must be overwhelming evidence in Young’s favor to get him back sooner and minimize any argument against him at least being a finalist for the award.

The worst thing that could happen is for Young to miss the Oct. 18, game. If that transpires, Young would most certainly have to rip Central and Powell defenses to shreds in the final two games to thrust himself back into contention. That’s a tall order.

Again, Young is a great kid. He even opened up about his personal life this past summer to 5Star Preps after committing to Missouri, making him an even more likable person. What’s more, I’ve seen his conduct on the field, and I’ve never sensed from him or seen from him any anger, malice or intent to hurt or taunt an opponent.

So I hate it for him that he’s in this predicament now.

Now the only question is: what will come of it all?