'He's thinking of pressing charges': On-field fight leads to local game getting cancelled
Savannah High's football game with visiting Cross Creek was called in the third quarter Friday night after a fight between players on the teams broke out on the field.
When coaches from both teams tried to break things up, a Savannah High coach was hit in the head with a helmet. Savannah Chatham Public School System officials immediately called the game, according to a press release issued by the district late Friday night.
Cross Creek was leading 28-0 when the incident occurred, and the Augusta-based Razorbacks improved to 3-1, while Savannah dropped to 0-5.
Bud Tolliver, in his first year as Savannah High's head coach, said things got ugly in the second half.
"There were some blocks in the back and some crack backs going on and then one of our freshmen got beat which led to some pushing and shoving and that started the whole brawl," Tolliver said. "When we looked at film this morning, it seemed like their coaches were just letting it happen. I went onto the field to get my guy, and another one of our coaches went out there and one of the players swung a helmet at him and hit him in the head. Then there were like five or six players on top of him. It was pretty bad -- he was in the hospital overnight and just got out, and he's thinking of pressing charges."
Tolliver said he had three players ejected, but he thought that Cross Creek had five or six that were written up as ejections.
"As a coach I wish we had done a better job of keeping our guys on the sideline, but it's tough when you have five or six coaches trying to hold 30 kids back," Tolliver said. "It's hard to blame them when they saw what was happening and wanted to protect their guys."
It was the second time this season that the SCCPSS had to call a game due to violence. The season opener between host Jenkins and Benedictine at Memorial Stadium on Aug. 18 was also called off at the end of the third quarter after several fights broke out between spectators on Jenkins side of the stadium.
Fans mar Benedictine/Jenkins opener 'Absolutely embarrassing:' Benedictine-Jenkins football game ends early due to unruly fans
District addresses fan incident at game As investigation begins, SCCPSS reacts to fan incident at Friday football game
Jenkins mother suggests crowd control 'Embarrassed' by season opener, Jenkins players' mom suggests a crowd control tactic
The Chatham Board of Education Police Department charged six juveniles with "affray and obstruction of law enforcement," this week after an investigation into the incident at Memorial Stadium.
On Friday at Savannah High, the District reported "Other injuries reported were minor in nature, though we understand one Savannah High players was taken to the hospital for medical evaluation. The fighting was contained to the field. Within minutes of the affray breaking out, District athletic staff made the decision to call the game in the interest of safety."
The press release went on to say, "Spectators were asked to leave the stadium, two juveniles were briefly taken into custody following an incident in the parking lot, but they have been released to their parents. The majority of the crowd left without incident. No arrests were made. SCCPSS regrets that this incident happened. Any of our student-athletes found to have been involved in the fighting on the field will face the appropriate consequences per our Student Code of Conduct."
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: Fight on the football field leads to early ending at Savannah High
