FOOTBALL: The Woodlands JV team takes knee instead of win to show respect for injured opponent

The Woodlands junior varsity football team gathers around coach David Colschen after practice on Tuesday at The Woodlands High School. The Woodlands junior varsity football team gathers around coach David Colschen after practice on Tuesday at The Woodlands High School. Photo: Michael Minasi Photo: Michael Minasi Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close FOOTBALL: The Woodlands JV team takes knee instead of win to show respect for injured opponent 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

THE WOODLANDS — Sometimes life lessons take precedence over the results of a sporting event.

And that’s exactly what happened Thursday evening when The Woodlands High School JV White team traveled to Katy Tompkins for its third game of the season.

It was an exciting and competitive contest.

Tompkins took a 29-28 lead with 57 seconds left on the clock. The Highlanders drove down the field into Falcons territory.

With about 12 seconds left, The Woodlands completed a pass at the 3-yard line. The receiver charged toward the goal line and collided with a Tompkins player at the 1.

The Tompkins player didn’t get up.

“That’s when he got hurt, and there were five seconds left in the game,” The Woodlands coach David Colschen said.

The Tompkins player, whose name was not released by Katy ISD officials due to the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, suffered a bad enough injury that it required a long delay in action and a LifeFlight helicopter to be called in.

“One of our players caught the ball and got to about the 1-yard line, and I saw one of their players — he was safety or a corner — he seemed to fall straight to the ground,” The Woodlands sophomore running back Nico Lopez said. “At first, I didn’t think too much of it. When the play was over, we just thought he had a broken bone or something not real serious. Then things got serious. It escalated quickly.”

Ryan Ferrini, a junior linebacker for the Highlanders, couldn’t believe what happened.

“It was crazy,” Ferrini said. “I just thought he hurt his head or got a concussion or something.”

Before the seriousness of the injury was really known, Ferrini remembers being prepared by one of his coaches to go in the game to try to score the winning touchdown with five seconds left on the clock.

“I was getting ready for that,” Ferrini said. “But once I heard he was getting LifeFlighted, I just didn’t feel right about pushing it in (anymore).”

Colschen looked around the field when everything was happening.

“We’re here to teach kids, and there’s a lot of lessons learned through football and sports,” he said. “When I looked across the field and saw their players together praying, I saw tears in their eyes and their coaches had tears in their eyes. There was not going to be a win-win (situation) here.”

There was a lot of unease on the Highlanders’ sideline as well.

“I’ve never seen anything that bad in football, and I’ve played for about 10 years,” Ferrini said. “It was surreal, really. I didn’t think he was that hurt, but then he wasn’t moving. I was just assuming the worst and got really scared. Everyone on the sideline got real quiet. We were just hoping he was OK, and we were praying.”

After about a 40-minute delay in action and his team just 1 yard away from a potential victory, Colschen knew in his heart what the right call was.

“If we would have lined up and punched it into end zone, do we celebrate?” Colschen said. “And if they stop us, do they celebrate? Their teammate is about to be LifeFlighted. It just was the right thing to do.”

His ultimate decision was to kneel on the ball and give Tompkins the win.

“I think it was good that we kneeled to show respect to them,” Lopez said. “Like one our coaches said, 'It’s more than just a game.'”

Ferrini, who earlier was on the verge of having his number called to drive the ball into the end zone, was happy with the decision as well.

“It made me feel relieved,” Ferrini said. “I didn’t want to do that to them. I felt happy that we could let them go with the victory after they lose one of their players.”

Ferrini put himself in Tompkins’ shoes.

“If that happened to one of my teammates, I know I wouldn’t have been able to stop them,” Ferrini said. “I wouldn’t have been able to fight them off at the 1-yard line. I understand where we’re coming from here. I respect coach’s decision.”

Tompkins athletic director and football coach, Anthony Tademy was touched by The Woodlands’ decision.

“It showed a lot of class," Tademy said. “It wasn’t about a win or a loss.”

The humility shown by the Highlanders has not been ignored in The Woodlands community.

“Everyone has been talking about it at school,” Lopez said. “People keep asking questions about what happened and if he will be OK. People say it was good that we kneeled.”

Due to FERPA laws, Katy ISD couldn’t provide an update on the athlete’s condition.

“As with any of our players, we hold a strong bond with them, especially during difficult times,” Tademy said. “We are hoping for a quick recovery.”

Colschen was proud of how his team handled the whole situation.

“I believe all of our kids — and they are a great group of kids — respected the decision,” Colschen said.