AHSAA suspends multiple players from playoff game WELLBORN — The Alabama High School Athletic Association handed down disciplinary action against Wellborn on Monday for the Panthers’ role in Friday’s scuffle after their game against Oakman. Multiple Wellborn players have been suspended for Friday night’s Class 3A quarterfinals game against top-ranked Madison Academy, according to Wellborn principal Christopher Hayes, who declined to say which players won’t be able to suit up for the contest. “From our part we understand that unsportsmanlike conduct cannot be tolerated,” Hayes said. “We’re going to support the AHSAA’s decision both as a school as a community. Matter of fact, that’s where coach (Jeff Smith) and I just came from is a community meeting.” Wellborn’s 24-23 win against Oakman second-round game wasn’t decided until the closing seconds. Wellborn’s Dakota King kicked a 25-yard field goal with six seconds, and following the kickoff, Oakman executed a play that included multiple laterals on its final play in an attempt to win the game. Seconds after the ball carrier was dragged to the ground to end the game, both sidelines met on the field in a physical altercation before being broken up. Of those that broke up the scuffle were coaches, administrators, law enforcement officers and fans who jumped the chain-linked fence surrounding the field. Despite rules saying fans are not allowed on the playing surface at any time during sporting events, Hayes said Panthers faithful that decided to move on impulse played a large role in ending the scuffle. “When that happens, we do have problems, but I’ll tell you this, 90 percent of the people who were out there, even though they weren’t supposed to be there, were there to de-escalate the situation and keep our kids safe,” Hayes said. “Without them, I don’t think it would have de-escalated as quickly as it did.” For Wellborn, Monday included a lot of waiting to hear from the state association. Hayes said the school’s football coaches met in the morning and the senior football players met in the afternoon before a large group of the community came out for the meeting at night. Hayes said that with the biggest goal being a desire to move on from the incident, the community meeting ended with a reading of Philippians 3:12. “Tomorrow is a brand new day,” he said. “Our folks have taken accountability and responsibility for their actions. I take responsibility for the event management. We have put some things in place to correct any areas, and we’re going to move forward from here.” Friday night’s game against Madison Academy will be the first time since 1995 the Panthers have advanced this far in the postseason. The win against Oakman also snapped a three-year streak of losing the second round. Smith said Wellborn’s current situation has deflated some of the excitement of Friday’s game. “We went from being really excited about winning the game to having the incident,” the coach said. “To me it has taken away from (the excitement).”
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 03:31:56 +0000
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