The news out of the Pinecrest-Union Pines game should be a wake-up call not only for the rest of the football teams across the state, but for all athletic teams.

During the second quarter of the Patriots' 69-14 victory, players and coaches from both teams ran onto the field after an altercation following a kickoff. The officials ejected three players from each team.

But now the questions arise.

Were the players ejected for fighting? If so, then according to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association's regulations, then both teams will not be able to make the playoffs. The rule states that a team whose players or coaches accumulate three or more ejections during the season for fighting will be banned from postseason.

It should be a clear cut case because in today's high-tech world, all the NCHSAA has to do is go to the videotape and view the events to see what to do. And as ESPN's Lee Corso says, "Not so fast, my friend."

All the NCHSAA has to go on is the testimony of the five officials. Why? Because both teams stated their video technicians were not filming the altercation.

It's hard to fathom that neither team's video showed what transpired or that no one with a cell phone camera or a camcorder has the evidence of the "fight."

So until the NCHSAA concludes the investigation and hands down a ruling, both Pinecrest and Union Pines will not know their teams' postseason fate. If Pinecrest is banned from the playoffs, then the Southeastern Conference playoff race becomes a five-team battle for the four spots.

While this punishment would be good news for Lumberton and Purnell Swett, it could actually hurt all the teams in the SEC. If the Patriots use the punishment to take each conference game as their state title contest, they could finish undefeated and hand each conference foe one loss. In today's playoff brackets of seedings and pod-play, then a Lumberton or Purnell Swett could slide of earning a No. 1 seed down to a No. 5 or lower seed.

This type of news will make coaches stress to all of their players how important it is to just walk away from any confrontations.

Football is not a contact sport, it's a collision sport. And sometimes players can feel that a block, a tackle, a comment or even a look lasts a little too long and will react poorly. Toss in that it is an intra-county rivalry, a one-sided contest and it was a hot and muggy evening, then you have the perfect storm for tempers to flare.