Something else just occurred to me.
This never happened.
This could be yet another lie, another hoax perpetrated by the protected classes who often stage stunts just to garner sympathy.
That could be why the players didn’t follow insturctions. There were no instructions.
Perhaps Mommy and Mommy made this up.
That thought had occurred to me, too.
The players reported the coach to their parents. The opposing team apparently (according to the article) never knew of the instruction.