Two Valley high school football teams are out of the state tournament after a fight broke out between players and coaches during a game Wednesday night.
The incident between Cortez and Coronado High School players was captured on cell phone camera.
The fight begins when a player appears to kick another player who was already on the ground, although some players claim he was kicking the ball.
The player who was kicked can be seen writhing on the ground in pain as both benches clear and punches are thrown. The fight quickly spread to other parts of the field and, at one point, a coach appeared to be hit from behind by a player and knocked to the ground.
Students at Coronado High School in Scottsdale said the fight was a big topic at the school.
“Everyone was talking about it a lot because it’s our date because we’re the best around. Everyone was a little angry about it. One of our teachers was a little worried and angry with everyone world, but we’re going to move forward,” a Coronado student said Friday.
ABC15 reached out to the AIA, which regulates athletics for both teams. AIA officials said they left it up to the two schools to decide on disciplinary action.
The Scottsdale Unified School District, representing Coronado High School, and the Glendale Union High School District, representing Cortez High School, agreed to call the game a “no contest” and agreed that both would withdraw from the upcoming state tournament.
Glendale Union released the following statement:
“The behavior that occurred during Wednesday’s game does not meet our expectations of good sportsmanship.
Due to this unfortunate event, Cortez High School requested that the AIA declare the boys soccer game a no competition. Additionally, Cortez will withdraw from the upcoming state tournament and the school has addressed the AIA violation at the local level with coaches and student-athletes.
Scottsdale Unified released the following statement:
“On Wednesday, February 1, some players on the Coronado High School boys soccer team were involved in an unfortunate incident on the field that does not reflect the values of Coronado or the Scottsdale Unified School District. Game officials said were forced to end the match prematurely and security was called in to help resolve the situation. After a thorough review of all available video evidence of the events of that evening, the match will be declared a draw and both schools will will withdraw from the upcoming state tournament. In SUSD, we try “To foster a culture of sportsmanship, respect and character. Wednesday night we fell short of those standards and we will turn this into a learning opportunity for our young men and staff.”
As for the players involved, Coronado school officials say they will follow the student code of conduct for discipline, which allows for possible suspensions.
According to them, the overturned bus did not suffer any serious injuries.
Neither district would comment on potential charges filed following Wednesday’s fight.
