A bizarre altercation among players marred the conclusion of the annual Thanksgiving football game between George Washington and Archbishop Ryan high schools last Thursday, prompting School District of Philadelphia officials to launch an investigation this week.
Play was delayed late in the fourth quarter at Washington’s Mickey Young Stadium with Ryan leading, 35–0, when a player wearing a full Washington uniform and equipment, except for helmet and shoulder pads, approached the Ryan bench and challenged the opposing team members to fight.
As the Washington player launched a profanity-laced tirade, he clashed physically with at least one Ryan player before adults on the Ryan sideline separated him from the shoving match. Eyewitnesses said later that the Washington player swung a punch toward at least one Ryan player. Sources from the Ryan football program said that a team video camera recorded the punch.
School police officers were standing by throughout the confrontation and intervened after the parties had been separated. Two school officers escorted the Washington player across the field to his own sideline, where he began to walk alone toward his team’s bench. School police subsequently escorted him toward the rear of the home stands and the Washington locker room area.
When play resumed, Washington’s defense scored a quick touchdown in the game’s final minute. Players from both teams lined up at midfield to shake hands as the game clock expired. There were no additional skirmishes during the traditional postgame handshakes.
Although Philadelphia police were on campus for the game, none were called to the football field in response to the incident.
Reached on Monday, a spokesman for the School District of Philadelphia said that the district had not been notified of the incident until Monday, when the Washington athletic director reported it to the school principal, who in turn alerted the district’s police desk. District policy requires on-site school officials to report certain incidents immediately to the principal, said Fernando Gallard, the district spokesman, but the athletic director cited the Thanksgiving holiday for the delay this time.
Gallard declined to disclose details about the ongoing school district investigation or possible sanctions against those involved. The Northeast Times is not identifying any of those involved by name because no criminal charges have been filed and the school district has not declared any specific violations of policy.
In general, “a punch would be considered an assault in the student code of conduct,” Gallard said. But school investigators would also have to review the context of the incident, such as whether the confrontation was mutual or if it was a continuation of an earlier confrontation.
Both schools are members of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association’s District 12, so PIAA regulations also apply. Mark Byers, chief operating officer of the statewide body, said that PIAA rules mirror National Federation regulations. Specifically, if a player leaves the bench area to engage in an altercation, the referee should disqualify the player from the game. The player would also be suspended from his team’s next game.
Additional punishment could come at the discretion of the District 12 committee, Byers said. The district might assess further sanctions against the player, the adults supervising the competition (including coaches) or the school.
It remains unclear if the lead referee for the Washington-Ryan game disqualified any players, or if he reported the altercation to District 12 or the PIAA. ••
