Farwell coach Scott Barnhart returns to the football sidelines Friday night against Roscommon after a week’s absence.
Barnhart was not allowed to watch his team in last week’s 21-7 victory over Forest Park area. He had to miss a game for being ejected the preceeding week for a coaches box violation against Coleman.
Barnhart recalled that Farwell netted three flags in the first half against Coleman and then a fourth one in the second to result in the ejection and game suspension.
“It’s been a point of emphasis for the last couple of years,”Barnhart said, referring to the rule of coaches having to stay back from the out-of-bounds line. “We’ve gotten a 5-yard penalty a couple of times with it. We had a young kid on our sidelines, and it was a real big deal to him. We were in the midst of a game with a Coleman team that took us by surprise. Our coaching staff was out and we were trying to get to our kids and trying to make sure things were being taken care of on the field.
“We had a young guy who felt he needed more control of the game so he flagged us three times real quick and that cost me ultimately the ability to coach this week.”
In Barnhart’s absence, junior varsity coach Scott Thaler called the plays on offense.
Barnhart sat in his school classroom during the game and wasn’t allowed to have any contact. But he was able to watch the game afterwards on film.
This week, Farwell plays Roscommon at home to open the Jack Pine Conference season.
“Roscommon has a new coach, Joe Holloway (formerly of Ashley) doing a great job,” Barnhart said. “He has them excited and has his numbers way up.”