Archbishop Murphy High School in Washington takes the field on Friday nights with offensive linemen that top 300 pounds on the scale. This type of size has scared a number of teams in the state.

Archbishop Murray’s size has been so scary that three different schools have forfeited games due to the private school’s ridiculous size. Those from other schools have cited a number of reasons for backing away from their competition, including private school recruiting and the risk of injuries.

Tim Dennis, the coach of the team that has most recently forfeited, was the most outspoken about recruiting practices by the school.

“The biggest concern is the recruiting aspect that private schools are able to do.  They can pull from a 50-mile radius from their campus and send buses to pick the kids up,” said Granite Falls Head Coach Tim Dennis.  “Just the level of athletes they’ve been able to bring in on one team, it doesn’t match up with a lot of the teams in our league.”

The opponents might have a point. This is supposed to be a league for small schools, and Archbishop Murray has outscored its opponents 170-0.

“It’s not that we’re afraid to play the game, it’s an injury issue,” said Dennis.  “Because of the size disparity between the linemen.  They have 300-pound linemen.  And we have sophomores that are weight 210, 220 pounds and starting on varsity.  So that’s the issue, is the size disparity.”

Parents have expressed concerns similar to Dennis. Though it might be easy to call Archbishop Murray’s opponents weak, Archbishop’s coach and its athletics director haven’t publicly responded to concerns from opponents. It seems like there might be some sketchy things going on out in Washington.

[King 5; BroBible; Photo Credit: Archbishop Murphy on Facebook]

About Ryan Williamson

Ryan is a recent graduate of the University of Missouri and has recently returned to his Minnesota roots. He previously has worked for the Columbia Missourian, KFAN radio in Minneapolis and BringMeTheNews.com. Feel free to email me at rwilliamson29 AT Gmail dot com.