CHAPEL HILL–North Carolina high school football will likely implement an official ‘mercy rule’ for the 2014 season.

But the N.C. High School Athletic Association board of directors will get input from the football coaches association before anything is finalized.

As of now, coaches can agree to end a game early or use a running clock if a game gets too lopsided.

The recommendation was that whenever the point differential exceeds 42 by halftime or at any point in the second half, a running clock would be instituted or the game would be ended altogether by mutual agreement.

The recommendation will be formally proposed at the NCHSAA board of director’s spring meeting.

NCHSAA commissioner Davis Whitfield says the coaches of the winners of the blowout contests voiced the most concern.

“In many senses, the winning team was looked at negatively because it felt like they were continuing to run the score up, when in actuality it was the other team that didn’t want to do that,” Whitfield says.