STOCKTON, Calif. — 32 students from both the Lodi and Stockton unified school districts will be off the football field for at least three games.
The students were suspended after a bench-clearing fight Friday evening between Tokay and Cesar Chavez High schools. According to California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Sac Joaquin Section, the players were suspended for at least three games. It was the Sac-Joaquin Section's first game of high school football.
"Our appeal panel saw footage of this game that looked like there... was a hard hit, and that was flagged. And then, a couple of players started pushing each other and it just escalated from there," said Will DeBoard, assistant commissioner with CIF.
According to DeBoard, the coaches were able to shut down the conflict in quick fashion after the other student left the bench and took to the field.
"It resembled much more of a rugby scrum than a fight. It wasn't like 32 kids out there fighting or anything like that, but we're bound by our bylaws," DeBoard said.
By contrast, he said that there were a total of 64 football players ejected from games last year. Friday's incident brought them to half that total after just one game. It included 14 players from Chavez High School and 18 players from Tokay High School.
Lodi Unified School District said all students involved in the event have received "appropriate consequences."
"Tokay High supports the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) policies of Victory with Honor and all CIF bylaws regarding sportsmanship and player conduct... Tokay High continues to reinforce sportsmanship as a pillar of our school’s athletic program,” Chelsea Vongehr, spokesperson for the district, told ABC10.
A statement from the Stockton Unified School District (SUSD) also said they supported the CIF.
"Stockton Unified School District recognizes the value and importance of athletic activities for our students. We also recognize the importance of sportsmanship, self- control and teamwork," Melinda Meza, spokesperson for SUSD, told ABC10.
DeBoard said this kind of behavior doesn't happen often, and that their hands are tied when comes to adhering to the bylaws.
"These are also high school kids and emotions run high and... football is a fairly physical game, but you want to be disciplined out there as well. And when this happens - hopefully this never happens again - but if some altercation does happen out there on the field of play, you want to limit it to just those kids because when more kids run out there onto the field, that's where things tend to escalate. You just don't want that," he said.
DeBoard said the Sac-Joaquin Section has been pushing sportsmanship as a priority the past few years and has added bylaws that include a statewide ejection policy. Generally, anyone who fights or leaves the bench in a fight are subject to suspension from the games. The CIF suspension doesn't affect their status in school.
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