A popular Massachusetts football player has been charged with assault in connection with an incident in which he struck a fellow athlete with a belt in the locker room.

As reported by the Mansfield News, Mansfield (Ma.) High junior Alex Ruddy was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon following an investigation that found the football star had struck a fellow student with a belt during school hours.

According to the News, the attack came at the end of a gym class in the boys locker room, where Ruddy attacked the other student after a verbal spat between the two.

Rather, the entire scary incident was apparently stopped by the dramatic intervention of other teens in the locker room, as Mansfield Police Chief Arthur O’Neil told the Boston Herald.

BLOCK: “There were other young men in the room that stopped it,” said O’Neill, who called their bravery “terrific.” …

“There was some back and forth between the two of them and the older boy hit the younger boy’s ankles and lower legs with a belt,” O’Neill said. “It’s a shame — just a moment of terrible bad judgment. He just didn’t use his head.”

Tony Boselli will return to football as a high school coach in Jacksonville — Getty

Tony Boselli is probably best known as the first draft pick in Jacksonville Jaguars history. Now the former All-Pro lineman is trying to turn the page on his own legacy by giving back as a prep football coach.

As reported by the website FootballScoop.com, a site that focuses on coaching openings across all levels of football, Boselli will serve as an assistant coach at Jacksonville (Fl.) Providence High for the 2013 season. The massive former tackle was apparently inspired to return to football by his son, Andrew, who will be a sophomore on the Providence squad in the fall.

The full extent of Boselli’s role is apparently yet to be determined, but it is known that he will play an active role in coaching the team’s offensive line. Considering the fact that Boselli was among the best offensive linemen in the league when healthy throughout his seven-year tenure with the Jaguars.

As it turns out, Boselli isn't the only former Jaguar heading to Providence, either, with fellow former Jaguar, Jeff Kopp, also joining the Jacksonville private school's football program as a linebacker coach.

So far Andrew Boselli appears to have avoided his father injury issues. Currently a freshman, Boselli has spent both of the last two seasons as a member of the Providence varsity squad, taking a nod from his father’s past while taking his position on the line.

Clint Frazier is a senior baseball slugger who has signed to play at Georgia. After the past week, any odds of that actually happening may be diminishing rapidly.

As noted by USA Today, Frazier began the season on the kind of tear that can move a prospect rapidly up the draft boards. Already considered the No. 2 overall prospect in the Class of 2013, Frazier opened his senior campaign with six home runs in his first seven games. One of them, as captured above, was a true bomb, flying over the center field fence, over the adjacent road and eventually landing halfway up the tree line across the street, according to one videographer.

Those homers are consistent with Frazier's career at Loganville. Despite being just 12 games into his senior campaign, Frazier has already nearly doubled the school's prior career home run record, a mark which just happens to have been set by MLB outfielder Brandon Moss.

Frazier has helped keep his Loganville (Ga.) High squad hot ever since that early homer binge, leading the Red Devils to an 11-1 record.

Normally, all of these indications would be great news for Georgia fans. Instead, in the strange world of baseball recruiting, this surge probably all but guarantees that the power hitting outfielder won’t ever put on a Georgia uniform.

The teen, who has already outdueled fellow top prep prospect Austin Meadows, is widely recognized as one of the top two overall prep baseball players.

Loganville senior Clint Frazier, who could be at a professional park near you soon — Jonathon Dawson photo

Florida Gulf Coast University’s rise to the Sweet 16 has brought plenty of attention to the tiny Ft. Myers School and its previously (very) under-the-radar basketball program. While the Eagles have rightfully been lauded for emphasizing all that’s fun in basketball. They’ve done so with an incredibly athletic roster that oozes confidence and charisma, all while defiantly overhauling the old stereotype that white men can’t jump.

Evidently coach Andy Enfield has more of the same on the way, as well.

The video you see above, which was brought to Prep Rally’s attention by USA Today, showcases highlights from Florida Gulf Coast recruit Jordan Neff. The senior played his high school basketball basketball at Kennesaw (Ga.) North Cobb High, and he can really, really dunk. In fact, few players could better embody the Eagles’ entire Dunk City ethos.

Just check out how high Neff gets on slams on the break and teutonic dunks in the paint. And that says nothing for his penchant for completely taking out defenders with poster jams.

Neff picked Florida Gulf Coast ahead of a scholarship offer from North Florida, while Georgia and West Virginia also showed interest in the 6-foot-6 power forward who looks and plays like a chip off the Chase Fieler block.

According to Atlanta TV network 11Alive, Neff was drawn to Florida Gulf Coast by Enfield’s open, fast breaking offense, which should allow him to make the most of his athleticism. As an honorable mention all-state selection in Georgia, Neff expects to make a difference for the Eagles, who should be able to plug him into their exciting scheme from Day 1.

A former girls soccer coach at a Catholic high school in Massachusetts was arrested on charges of sexual exploitation of children in connection with disturbing allegations that he asked a 14-year-old in a chatroom to “put on a show” for him.

As reported by Springfield TV network WWLP, 36-year-old Michael DuPont was arrested in connection with a complaint filed in Vermont, where a teen was reportedly solicited to perform for him over a webcam. Vermont state police were contact on December 26 about an incident dating to October, when DuPont allegedly asked an unnamed girl how old she was. After she told the coach that she was just 14-years-old, DuPont then asked her to “put on a show” for him.

DuPont had left his role as head girls soccer coach for Holyoke (Ma.) Catholic High before the criminal complaint was made, but his connection with the school has still raised concerns about his conduct while he was still employed by the Springfield Diocese.

While the Diocese itself has been quick to note that it has no evidence or other indication that DuPont had done anything illegal while he was at the school, it was engaging in a full investigation and interviewing the coach’s former players to ensure that he never reached out to them in a similar fashion.

“We were, of course, shocked by this news,” the Sprinfield Diocese wrote in a statement. “During his tenure as a soccer coach no allegations or related complaints were ever brought to our attention. Investigators have not found any evidence at this stage that involves Holyoke Catholic students.”

This is why you have to hit your free throws late in games.

As reported by the Contra Costa Times, Associated Press and a handful of other outlets, San Diego (Ca.) Horizon Christian escaped with the California Interscholastic Federation Division V state title after drilling a game-winning three pointer at the buzzer to edge favored Alameda (Ca.) St. Joseph Notre Dame School, 47-46.

While the official record will always acknowledge Horizon guard Ethan Underwood as the hero, it’s likely to overlook the role played by St. Joseph Notre Dame’s Marcus Harris, who missed two free throws with four seconds remaining that could have iced the victory for the Pilots.

As rough as those misses may have been, Harris wasn’t the only Pilots player on the hook, either. Another St. Joseph Notre Dame starter, center Temidayo Yussuf, also missed two free throws with 11 seconds left. If any of those free throws had fallen through the title game would have gone to overtime. If the Pilots had split the group of four, they would have won.

Instead, they were the victim of yet another unlikely buzzer beater in the throws of high school March Madness.

"These guys are never out of a game,” Horizon coach Tyrone Hopkins told the Times. “They always believe.

“[And Underwood has] ice water in his veins.”

Here's another view of Underwood's state title-winner.

It’s a natural tendency to comb the NCAA Tournament for the next wave of NBA stars. It’s just as similar to look for tomorrow’s college stars in the high school ranks. What is truly rare, however, is to see a player who could already compete two levels up starring on a junior circuit.

DeAndre Ayton is definitely that, despite being months away from his first high school class. At 14, the Class of 2017 star could become even more impressive once he gets a bit more seasoning.

At the moment, Ayton is more than impressive enough on pure talent alone to merit serious consideration to his ability to make an impact on the NCAA level. Would the current San Diego (Ca.) Balboa Prep player be a star? Maybe not, but the 6-foot-10, 200-pounder is so athletic and agile, with a decent mid range shot, that he would certainly find his way on to the court.

Then again, you can judge for yourself. The video you see above was captured over the course of one single weekend tournament, with plenty of those plays coming a mere 45 minutes after he ambled off a plane in Salt Lake City.

What’s most impressive about the Bahamian native (he is of Nigerian descent, but was born in the Bahamas) is his willingness to run the floor, play tough defense and bang on the boards.

That being said, it’s hard not to be captivated by Ayton’s explosive dunks. At 14, the middle schooler is already throwing down jams in traffic, powering home putback dunks and elevating on the break to flush home with authority.

Add to that Ayton’s remarkable shooting touch -- how many 6-foot-10 players do you see stroking threes in the NBA, let alone prep ball? -- and his comfort handling the ball on the break and it’s clear to see why he will almost surely enter high school as the top overall prospect in the Class of 2017.

An unruly brawl at a Canadian youth hockey game on Saturday got so out of hand that police in Ontario are now investigating the incident to determine if charges should be brought against one or more of the parents involved.

Beware before you press play below: Some explicit language is involved, right from the get-go.

As reported by the Canadian Press, among other sources (Online Sports Guys among them), a Bantam Pee Wee C youth hockey game between a team from Tweed and a Six Nations squad was the surprising site of a major brawl in the stands between parents of the two teams. The fight was captured on camera and uploaded to YouTube on Sunday.

This isn't the first time that parents have gotten overly aggressive at a youth hockey game -- as was proven all too well in February -- but it might be the most dramatic and physical case.

After a parent of a Six Nations player told a group of Tweed parents to "Come over here and get it, you [expletive]," a group of Tweed parents did just that. The result was a major melee between both sides, with multiple adults throwing punches, wrestling and eventually requiring a number of other bystanders to pull them apart.

The fight occurred at the finals of a Bantam Hockey league, with the game played in Tweed, a town roughly at the midpoint between Toronto and Ottawa. The nature of the game, with a title on the line, apparently led to some pregame activities, with parents from the Six Nations squad telling the Bellevue Intelligencer that their counterparts from homestanding Tweed were drinking in the parking lot before the game and spent much of the contest aggressively heckling Six Nations players.