'Embarrassed' by season opener, Jenkins players' mom suggests a crowd control tactic

On Friday, for the second year in a row, the high school football opener between Jenkins and Benedictine was called to an early halt due to disruptions in the stands.

The Savannah Chatham Public School District was in charge of security at the game, held at Memorial Stadium, as Jenkins was the home team. On Monday, the district held a news conference and Terry Enoch, the SCCPSS Chief of Police spoke about security at the game, and said his department will get to the bottom of what happened.

Enoch said there are strict protocols in place for SCCPSS sporting events — which includes attendees having to pass through a security checkpoint, along with a clear bag policy.

The SCCPSS website notes restrictions that the only bags allowed are clear plastic, vinyl or PVC and do not exceed 12" x 6" x 12". One-gallon clear plastic freezer bag (Ziploc bag or similar) are allowed and small clutch bags, approximately the size of a hand, with or without a handle or strap can be taken into the venue with one of the clear plastic bags. Fans are not allowed to bring in backpacks, briefcases, purses larger than a clutch bag, fanny packs, cinch bags, luggage of any kind, nonapproved seat cushions or seatbacks, computer bags, diaper bags, binocular cases, or camera bags.

BC football star defies odds with return Benedictine's Kam Cody returns from near death experience to start for Cadet football team

Top football performances in Week 1 What we learned about teams from Savannah area in Week One of high school football

Crowd panics, halting BC football game 'The fans started coming over the rails.' Crowd panics over fight in stands and flees stadium

He said law enforcement presence was not a major concern as there were 19 officers from three different agencies at the game. There were no arrests reported by the Board of Education Police Department, the Savannah Police Department or the Chatham County Sheriff's Department at Friday night's incident.

Enoch said there were no immediate plans for changes regarding security from his department. But the SCCPSS Athletic Department is considering implementing new measures in the wake of the incident.

SCCPSS Athletic Director John Sanders noted that the disruptions that led to the game being called have been rare occurrences. He said the two incidents over the past two seasons in the BC and Jenkins matchups are the only ones on record during that time span.

A reporter asked if the district would consider moving game times, or possibly moving games to Saturdays in an effort to control crowds, and Sanders said those types of strategies are being discussed.

Tiffany Cowan has attended Jenkins games for years as her two sons have been stars for the Warriors. Her older son, Tavion Gadson, graduated last spring and is now a defensive lineman at the University of Kentucky. His younger brother, Lorenzo Cowan, is in his final season with Jenkins and has narrowed his college choices to Kentucky, USF and West Virginia.

Tiffany said she was at both games where unruly fans had an impact, and those are the only games where she has witnessed this kind of behavior.

"I was upset and embarrassed about what happened Friday," Tiffany Cowan said. "There were too many kids that didn't respect the players competing in the game or the adults who were around them. I think a lot of the kids weren't even from Jenkins, and there were a lot of middle schoolers who were causing trouble. I think the district needs to start requiring kids at the game to have a student ID showing they are from Jenkins, and if they are middle school kids they should have a parent with them. I think that's where the problem was coming from.

"I've never experienced that kind of thing before when I'm watching my boys play, except for these two times against Benedictine," Cowan said. "It's not fair to people like me who are there to watch their kid play, and we couldn't even enjoy it. Maybe they can put in some new rules that would help with the crowd control."

Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Mother of Jenkins football player suggests security changes for games