Gainesville will be without 39 players during its next high school football playoff game after a bench-clearing brawl put an early end to its win over Brunswick. The Red Elephants choosing to appeal.
However, it is unlikely that the Georgia High School Association will change its decision.
Despite the challenges it will face, Gainesville is lucky that its high school football season is allowed to continue. An incident of this nature often results in a required forfeiture of any remaining games.
Gainesville claims Brunswick started the brawl.
This unfortunate reality for the Red Elephants stems from a violent altercation during the third quarter on Friday. They held a 42-0 lead over the Pirates when all hell broke loose.
Some initial pushing and shoving very quickly escalated to a full-blown melee. Chaos ensued as both benches cleared to get involved with the fight. Punches were flying. Helmets were ripped from heads.
It took coaches from both teams, high school football officials and even armed security officers more than a few minutes to deescalate the situation. The officials ultimately determined the game could not continue. They put an early stop to the contest with approximately two minutes left in the third quarter.
There are always two sides to every story but Gainesville blames Brunswick.
“While we typically do not condone this type of behavior, we will not sit back and watch our teammates be assaulted by ripping off helmets, punching, and barreling over a helmet-less player,” Gainesville City Schools superintendent Jeremey Williams said in the statement. “The large majority of our team entered the field with the intent to separate and resolve the incident, not escalate. Every true team would do the same.”
Brunswick did not yet provide comment on what happened. Its season is over either way.
39 high school football players will be suspended for their next playoff game.
The Georgia High School Association announced its ruling on the brawl on Monday morning after a weekend-long investigation. 39 players will be suspended for Gainesville for its upcoming quarterfinal matchup against Langston Hughes. That includes all 11 players who were on the field when the fight first started. Most of them are starters.
“It’s disappointing a hard-line interpretation of the rule was applied, and we will be appealing,” said superintendent Williams.
The appeal hearing is set for 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning. I do not expect much to change.
In addition to the suspensions, Georgia High School Association executive director Tim Scott also said there will be fines for both schools. He did not release the amount because they have not yet been determined for both schools. However, the fines for players or coaches leaving the bench area and a multi-player fight are a maximum of $1,000 apiece. Teams can also be fined a maximum of $2,500 for a “failure to exert reasonable institutional control.”
Any suspensions for Brunswick have also yet to be announced. However, any player who is suspended will have to serve his suspension during the first game of next season.