There’s a difference between unsportsmanlike and criminal.

That was proven last Saturday night in San Antonio when two high school players from John Jay High School appeared to target an official. The first alleged player tackled umpire Robert Watts from behind, and the second player speared him as he lied on the turf.

Watts escaped the incident without serious physical injury and it’s believed he plans to continue to work this season.

Once the video of the incident hit the Internet, it went viral in seconds. It’s drawn the attention of national media, too. It’s been talked about on SportsCenter, CNN and the Today Show.

Unfortunately, it’s drawing attention to high school sports for all the wrong reasons.

Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Football Commissioner Dave Clutter has watched the video and simply couldn’t believe what he saw.

“It was really bad,” Clutter said. “I’ve never seen anything like it, and I was very surprised by it.”

As soon as he saw the play, Clutter immediately thought it was intentional. Watts was the umpire in the game. The umpire, which stands on the defensive side of the line of scrimmage, is the only spot on the field that’s got players both in front and behind him.

“I’ve seen officials get run over before because they’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, but that doesn’t appear to be the case here,” Clutter said. “The umpire in that game didn’t have a chance.”

Thankfully nothing of that sort has happened in the OVAC – at least that Clutter is aware.

But, who’s to say it can’t?

Remember, this is a different era in which we’re living. Unfortunately, not all kids respect their parents, teachers and elders, let alone sporting officials.

“I don’t think there’s any way to prepare or train an official for something like that,” Clutter said. “There’s really nothing you can do.”

The OHSAA and OVAC both have sportsmanship initiatives and try to profess it at every opportunity. The OHSAA’s ‘Respect the Game’ moniker might need to be expanded if incidents like we – and the rest of the world – watched unfold in Texas.

“To me, it should be considered an assault,” Clutter said. “What’s really the difference if those kids waited for the official outside of his dressing room? I am not sure there is one.”

There’s a nationwide shortage on officials for all sports. That’s especially true in the Ohio Valley, which has seen the conference expand to 50 teams and all head-to-head games within the conference are scheduled by Clutter.

Clutter and Butch Minkemeyer have organized and oversaw the OVAC Football Officials Academy the last two summers. It’s produced a handful of registered officials, but still not as many as needed or preferred.

Incidents like what occurred in Texas are certainly in the minority, but it’s just another reason for people, who might be thinking of taking up officiating, to give it a second thought.

“I hope that the positives (of officiating) outweigh the negatives,” Clutter said. “Those kinds of incidents, like the one last weekend, get national attention, but it’s really a rare occurence.”

While the state of Texas is still investigating the incident as to whether or not to pursue charges, both Ohio and West Virginia have laws on the book about sporting officials.

“Many states have those types of laws,” Clutter said. “It may be considered a misdemeanor, but it’s still a crime that law enforcement can act upon.”

Clutter, who dispatched crews all over the valley this past weekend, doesn’t want any of his officials looking over their shoulder for what might occur.

“If you start concerning yourself, worrying about or anticipating something of that sort, it’s possible you’ll lose focus on what your primary responsibility is,” Clutter said. “As an official, you just can’t worry about it. You have to do what you can (during the game) to prevent issues like that.”

During the course of every game – regardless of level or sport – there are calls that players, coaches, fans and even other officials don’t agree with. However, taking out frustration on the officials physically is certainly not the correct path.

Staskey can be reached via email at sstaskey@timesleaderonline.com or at Twitter.com/TLSportsSeth