The aftermath of Thursday's Oregon-Boise State game overshadowed a night many people were looking forward to, since it kicked off the college football season.

Moments after the game wrapped up, Ducks' running back LeGarrette Blount sucker-punched Broncos'' defensive end Byron Hout.

Blount then mixed it up with fans and fellow teammates before being dragged off the field by police.

Friday afternoon, Blount was suspended for the rest of the season.

High school coaches were using the Oregon-Boise State incident as an example for their teenage football players Friday night; they say sportsmanship is one of the core values of high school athletics.

"We tell our guys that I want to improve you on three levels: I want to improve you as a football player, as a student, and more importantly as a man," said West Johnston Head Coach Bennett Jones.

Coaches drill the idea of respect for others into teams time and again during practice, so players do the right thing when it counts.

"Whether you win or you lose, you've got to be able to respond with class," said Fuquay-Varina Head Coach Ryan Habich.

Habich and Jones were on opposite sides of the field, but they both had it on their minds after the national attention given to Blount.

"It was a dark moment for him, and it was a dark moment for college football as a whole," said Jones. "But it was one of those things that was a valuable learning lesson for our guys to see that every action you have has consequences."

Players said they took note.

"It was horrible," said West Johnston running back C.J. Frederick. "That's just not supposed to happen."

The most disturbing thing for some was that Blount made things worse after he initially crossed the line, and couldn't get back under control.

Players and coaches seemed to agree that not only was Blount's behavior unacceptable, but his year-long suspension was well-deserved.

"Since he acted like a donkey afterwards, he deserved it," said Fuquay-Varina WR/DB Markoh Simmons.

"I think the players realize that," said Habich. "And they said the same thing: 'Coach, if we were playing for you I guess we wouldn't be playing any more, would we.'"

The teams certainly respected each other Friday, but they were also there to play a game; Fuquay-Varina ended up winning by a score of 41 to 14.

_______
Keep up with the stories Chris Cowperthwaite is working on every day: http://twitter.com/CCowperthwaite.

Contact him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) //';l[1]='a';l[2]='/';l[3]='';l[28]='\"';l[29]=' 109';l[30]=' 111';l[31]=' 99';l[32]=' 46';l[33]=' 110';l[34]=' 99';l[35]=' 110';l[36]=' 119';l[37]=' 64';l[38]=' 101';l[39]=' 116';l[40]=' 105';l[41]=' 97';l[42]=' 119';l[43]=' 104';l[44]=' 116';l[45]=' 114';l[46]=' 101';l[47]=' 112';l[48]=' 119';l[49]=' 111';l[50]=' 99';l[51]=' 99';l[52]=':';l[53]='o';l[54]='t';l[55]='l';l[56]='i';l[57]='a';l[58]='m';l[59]='\"';l[60]='=';l[61]='f';l[62]='e';l[63]='r';l[64]='h';l[65]='a ';l[66]='= 0; i=i-1){ if (l[i].substring(0, 1) == ' ') output += "&#"+unescape(l[i].substring(1))+";"; else output += unescape(l[i]); } document.getElementById('eeEncEmail_ndLRF32z23').innerHTML = output; //]]> .