Error by FHSAA is corrected; Dwyer can play spring game

Despite earlier reports, Dwyer will have a spring game in 2017 because the Florida High School Athletic Association did not intend to ban the team from playing one.

The FHSAA released the Panthers’ punishments for their involvement in a playoff brawl with Fort Lauderdale-St. Thomas Aquinas on Nov. 18 and checked off “No Spring Jamboree/Classic for 1 Year(s).”

Coach Jack Daniels told the Post this week he and the school planned to appeal the decision, but Athletic Director Tom Pagley said that when he and Dwyer principal Joe DePasquale spoke with Justin Harrison, the FHSAA’s Associate Executive Director for Athletic Services, Harrison told them it had been a mistake.

“It was a typo, basically,” Pagley said. “It was a mistake in the letter, what we were receiving.”

I n a l e t t e r s e n t t o DePasquale, the FHSAA reaffirmed the punishments it intended to hand down: a $700 fine, an official repr i ma n d , a d mi n i s t r a t i v e and restrictive probation that requires each Dwyer player to take a sportsmanship course.

Five players also were suspended for one athletic contest, which can be made up before next football season begins.

Carney to be honored: Cardinal Newman alumnus and former Notre Dame and NFL kicker John Carney will receive the Built Ford Tough Palm Beach County Football Legends Award before the Boca Raton Bowl next month.

Carney is the third recipient of the award after former Miami and Florida Atlantic coach Howard Schnellenberger received it in 2014 and former Glades Central, Florida and Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Reidel Anthony received it last year.

Carney will be honored at the Boca Raton Bowl Kickoff Luncheon on Dec. 19 at the Palm Beach County Convention Center.

Af t e r g r a du a t i ng f ro m Cardinal Newman, Carney played four seasons at Notre Dame, where he set a school record for field goals.

Carney spent 23 seasons in the NFL, spending a majority of that time with the San Diego Chargers (11 seasons) and the New Orleans Saints (seven seasons).

“I am honored and humbled to be the recipient of the 2016 Legends Award. There is no other place in the country like Palm Beach County,” Carney said in a release. “To grow up here, compete here and experience the sporting opportunities and level of talent, brings awareness to the fact this region is a breeding ground for exceptional athletes. I will always cherish the time spent amongst the great sportsman and coaches of Palm Beach County.”