Syracuse, New York, city school officials believe that race played a central role in a high school football brawl between the Public Service Leadership Academy at Fowler and Watertown teams on Friday, Oct. 13.
The superintendent said fans at the host school, Watertown, spewed racial slurs toward the students, including calling them the N-word, coons, and monkeys.
Syracuse City School District Superintendent Anthony Q. Davis shared that the crowd at the game instigated the fight in the second quarter, leading to the cancelation of the game and for PSLA at Fowler to forfeit its next critical game.
“It was coming from the field, and there were specific terms used, (n-word), coons, monkeys, all of those things were used against the kids on the field,” Davis said, adding the comments were directed at the Fowler players and their parents at the game, according to Syracuse.com.
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As the teens started to fight on-field, officials made the decision to end the game with just over a minute remaining in the first half. Fowler was winning 22-7 over Watertown High School.
Officials declared the game “no contest.” That means neither team, one composed of white players and the other predominantly Black, would face any penalties. However, for one of the schools, this incident cast a shadow over their entire season.
Initially, the school officials stated that the team would forfeit its Section III Class A2 play-in game against Nottingham on Friday, Oct. 20. The move allowed Nottingham to advance directly to the sectional tournament. The forfeit also ensured that PSLA Fowler would not be able to go on to the season’s big games.
“They will not be able to play in the playoffs, but they will finish their season with crossover games. Teams that do not make the playoffs are allowed to continue to play these crossover games,” said Michael Henesey, the district’s public information officer.
The leadership at the…
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