High school football coach fired after winning 63-0 as school says his team crossed a sacred line

Who would have thought that winning a game could cost someone their job? Zach Loboy, the head coach of the Spartans at Marist Catholic School in Eugene, Oregon, was reportedly fired after a 63-0 win against Cottage Grove. On October 9, 2026, the two high schools battled it out on the field, but the game was called early after Marist Catholic School took the lead. Mid-Major Media (@MidMajorMedia) was the first to report Loboy's firing on X. The post was shared on October 13, and it has since received over 1 million views.

One wrong move

Marist Catholic School had already taken a lead in the first half. With just 1:47 minutes left, the Spartans (sports team representing Marist Catholic School) were at 56-0. But the questionable part of the game was the onside kick by the Spartans right before the first half ended. Usually, a losing team makes an onside kick to recover in the game. In this case, however, the Spartans were already leading, so the two attempted onside kicks were seen as rubbing salt in Cottage Grove’s wounds.

'Effective immediately'

At halftime, the two school directors, Rick Gardner of Marist Catholic School and Garrett Bridgers of Cottage Grove, along with Mike Whitty, the Lane County Football Association commissioner, discussed and decided to call the game early. Gardner said to the Register-Guard, "What happened there is really not reflective of the school's mission and how we want to treat our opponents. Our athletic program tries to adhere to the mission and the values of Marist Catholic High School. In this particular case, we definitely fell short."

Bridgens added, "It wasn't a forfeit; it wasn't that our coaches and players did not want to continue. We were working in the best interest of our kids, our fans — the entire situation — to do what was best for everyone." Gardner also emailed the parents after the game that Loboy was dismissed effective immediately. As per reports, Jake Lowther replaced Loboy. He started as an offensive line coach at Marist Catholic School and is now their interim coach.

Victory >> sportsmanship

Nobody enjoys the feeling of being on the losing team, but how far would you go to win? A survey conducted by Ypulse on behalf of Champion, cited by PR Newswire, revealed that 79% of respondents said showing "good sportsmanship" is not as important to athletes now. In fact, 81% said they would rather win the game than play fair, while 41% admitted their coach worries more about winning than sportsmanship. This was the exact case with Loboy. His team was already winning, but he still attempted two onside kicks, which was probably an unnecessary attempt to humiliate the Cottage Grove players.

'Game gone soft'

Meanwhile, netizens have mixed opinions on Loboy's termination. Some supported his passion to win, while others said his "coaching" was questionable. @216_Wildboy wrote, "This is satire, right? Ain’t no way the game has become this f**king soft." @Ranger0291 commented, "Marist and their leadership absolutely do not care about having a quality football program. They care about donors, influential people/families, and allow them to exert influence and power when they don’t get their way."

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