The  referee has been accused of racial slurs against the two which is the usual line of defense!

By DAVID MONTGOMERYSEPT. 12, 2015

The officiating crew prayed before John Jay High School’s football game against Del Rio in San Antonio on Friday, a week after two John Jay players intentionally hit a referee.

SAN ANTONIO — In a state where football rules the sports world, where Friday night lights blaze over hundreds of high school stadiums at the start of every autumn weekend, the John Jay Mustangs have seldom been on center stage.

The San Antonio high school that bears the name of the nation’s first chief justice has not posted a record better than 4-6 in the last five years. But a violent hit by two players on an unsuspecting referee has again made bad behavior as much a part of a football game as kickoffs and extra points. It is also making people ponder whether there is a broader lesson about the dark side of high school sports here, or whether it was just an isolated incidence of terrible behavior.

At John Jay, the view tends to be the latter. Elsewhere, some observers are more critical.

The two players have been suspended from school for slamming into the referee, Robert Watts, at a Sept. 4 game in Marble Falls. An assistant coach who may have provoked the incident was also suspended, and the episode is under investigation by the University Interscholastic League, which governs extracurricular activities in Texas schools. Also under investigation are the players’ assertions that the referee used racial slurs, an allegation that the referee’s lawyer denies.

Trenton Hobdy of John Jay carrying the ball against Del Rio on Friday. Two teammates and an assistant coach were suspended after the hit on a referee a week earlier.

Video replays of the incident have been viewed more than nine million times on YouTube, drawing outrage from even casual sports viewers and stirring calls for harsh penalties, including criminal charges and suspension of John Jay’s football program, an option that, for the moment, seems unlikely.

“I had to play it back a couple of times just to believe what I saw,” said the Tarrant County sheriff, Dee Anderson, in Fort Worth, who has officiated high school and college games for more than three decades. “We all understand that you get hit out there, but this is so violent and so premeditated that I believe it deserves some very stern consequences.”

Verbal abuse and threats from coaches, players and fans toward game officials is not uncommon in the United States. But American sports are tame compared with the level of violence against game officials in other countries. Still, sports experts generally agree that the body slam against Mr. Watts crossed a line.

As captured on video, as a play began, one John Jay player made a beeline run at Mr. Watts, slamming into him from behind and knocking him down. A second player followed, appearing to dive into the referee’s back as he was on the ground. The players, who were suspended from the school and team participation, have not been publicly identified because they are minors and an investigation is pending.

School officials have said Mack Breed, an assistant coach on John Jay’s football team and a 2004 graduate of the school, allegedly made a suggestion that could have led to the incident. Administrators, who have suspended Mr. Breed pending an investigation, said the assistant had allegedly commented that “this guy needs to pay for cheating us” before his two players made the hit on Mr. Watts.

“I don’t know of other incidents like this, which is why it’s so shocking,” said H. G. Bissinger, the author of “Friday Night Lights,” which chronicled the Permian Panthers in Odessa, Tex. “I think it’s part and parcel of the intensity, the fanaticism and the craziness of what sports has become in this country.”

The incident resurrected memories of a 2008 playoff game in which a linebacker for Trinity High School in Euless, in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, ran over a referee on the second-to-last play of the game. The linebacker, Elikena Fieilo, who is now a Euless police officer, told The Fort Worth Star-Telegram last week that his intentional hit had resulted in disciplinary action and the loss of several Division I scholarship offers.

“It was a terrible, horrible decision I made,” Mr. Fieilo, who went on to become a scholarship player for Sam Houston State University, told the newspaper.

But athletic officials and other sports experts say they cannot remember any violent on-field display equal to the hits on Mr. Watts.

“There have been instances of inappropriate contact with an official — generally that’s been bumping into an official, never something to this degree,” said Jamey Harrison, the deputy director of the interscholastic league.

“Is it part of something larger? Of course it is,” said Mr. Bissinger, whose book spawned a movie and a television series. “It’s all about winning, it’s all about losing, it’s all about anger, it’s all about feeling cheated, and in the case of John Jay, now it’s about retribution, now it’s about revenge.

“It’s gotten to the point where kids, and apparently the assistant coach, they don’t yell at the ref anymore,” he added. “They take a page out of the schoolbook of soccer in Latin America and Europe and try to maim them.”

But the interscholastic league chairman, Mike Motheral of Lubbock, while condemning the attack, called it “an isolated incident” and noted that hundreds of other high school football games had taken place the same night without incident.

These two and the coach have to be disciplined so that this will not happen again.

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“I would hope we don’t jump to too many conclusions,” he said. “I’m not going to be too quick to jump out there and say what we’re seeing is an escalation in violence.”

His group took no action at a hearing last week, but is continuing its investigation and could make a decision at its next meeting, on Sept. 23. Superintendent Brian T. Woods of the Northside Independent School District, which includes John Jay, said that the “shameful” incident was being treated as an assault on a school official and that disciplinary options could include expulsion and assignment to a juvenile justice school.

Although The Dallas Morning News has editorialized in favor of firing the head coach and suspending the entire team for the rest of the season, athletic officials suggest that they believe that option would be too harsh and unfairly penalize non-offending football players, cheerleaders and fans.

Among the students, parents and faculty at John Jay, reactions were varied. Several students interviewed last week agreed that the two players had crossed a line, but some also expressed frustration that the racial slur allegations were being played down and asserted that John Jay was being unfairly painted with a broad brush for the actions of two players.

Kalvin Martinez, a 17-year-old senior, said he had known one of the two players since elementary school and described him as “a really good guy” who would not have taken that action unless provoked. “What he did wasn’t right, but at the same time, I don’t think he would do it just for no reason,” he said.

John Jay is the third-oldest of 15 high schools in the Northside district. Of the nearly 3,000 students, 84 percent are Hispanic, about 8 percent white and nearly 5 percent black, according to school district data.

Nearly 67 percent of the students are economically disadvantaged.

“Right behind that statistic,” Robert Harris, the school principal, said, “we have great students that come from great families and a great community.”

Inside John Jay, which sits on a busy thoroughfare near Lackland Air Force Base, a statue of a giant white mustang stands near the entrance, rearing up with a front hoof reaching skyward. Educators and students feel the incident has wrested attention from the school’s successes. John Jay serves as a science and engineering magnet school, and has been recognized by the state for academic distinction in math, science, social studies and English language arts.

John Jay also has one of the largest high school R.O.T.C. programs in the country, and its Silver Eagles armed drill team has won national competitions.

“We’re about the business of educating children and educating students, and that has to be our focus moving forward,” Mr. Harris said.

On Friday night, the Mustangs played for the first time since the controversial game. The players jogged onto the field holding hands, drawing a roar from the crowd of 3,139 fans at Gustafson Stadium.

Without on-field incidents, John Jay defeated Del Rio, 37-14.

“I think they sent a message of perseverance,” said Mr. Woods, the superintendent.

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September 13, 2014

by Warner Todd Huston

The Texas high school football players under investigation for blindsiding a referee during a game last week say the official made racial comments to them before they attacked him.

On Tuesday, Northside Independent School District Superintendent Brian T. Woods said that the investigation so far shows that an assistant coach for John Jay High School in San Antonio may have egged on the assault by suggesting that students retaliate for the ref’s alleged bias against his team.

Video of the assault shows the ref completely unprepared for the hit as one of the players crashed into him from behind before the other lowered his helmet and hit the downed ref a second time.

The superintendent said that the two players, sophomore Victor Rojas and senior Mike Moreno, face a disciplinary hearing. But he also noted that the district seeks to file a complaint with the Texas Association of Sports Officials over the referee’s alleged conduct on the field.

“Libel and slander have already been committed against me,” the referee told the Austin American-Statesman. “I will be contacting the appropriate people soon and any statement from me will come at a later date.”

According to school officials, they placed assistant coach Mack Breed on leave for allegedly telling the students that the ref “needs to pay for cheating us.”

Marble Falls Police Sgt. Tom Dillard said that his investigation will take at least a week to complete. The policeman also said that the likely charge would be misdemeanor assault but that this isn’t “chiseled into stone.”

“All of us are heartbroken over the situation that occurred at the game Friday night between John Jay and Marble Falls,” Superintendent Woods said in the statement. “The incident is shameful and in no way reflects who Northside ISD and Jay High School are.”

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September 8, 2015

An assistant coach for John Jay High in San Antonio is alleged to have said, “this guy needs to pay for cheating us” before two John players appeared to target and intentionally hit a football official during Friday’s game.

The coach, Mack Breed, has been placed on administrative leave following Northside Independent School District protocol, spokeman Pascual Gonzalez said during a news conference Tuesday and according to a summary of events provided by the school district to TEGNA partner KENS5.

The district said Breed’s “suggestion was inappropriate and could have led to the incident.”

Breed, 29, has been with the district since 2010.

At the news conference, the district said head coach Gary Gutierrez was not aware of the conversation between Breed and the players. District officials say they have full confidence in Gutierrez.

The district called the incident “shameful and deeply troubling” but said it does not plan to shut down the football program because it would be unfair to the 200 other students involved. The school said it intends to use this as a “teaching moment.”

The district said the incident that has gained national attention – including a video that has gone viral – might have been caused by missed calls. The players alleged the umpire used racial slurs toward them.

The district said it will file a formal complaint with the Texas Association of Sports Officials regarding the alleged racial slur. It said it intends to cooperate with the officials association and the UIL in the investigation.

Northside ISD athletic director Stan Laing said he did not believe that Jay was treated unfairly during the game.

The players who have been suspended from school will be taken to a disciplinary hearing and the incident will be treated as assault on a school official. Punishment could range from the alternative disciplinary school to being assigned to the school run by the Juvenile Justice system.

Meanwhile, as was reported in our podcast, Sgt. Tom Dillard from Marble Falls police said preliminary interviews have been conducted, including with umpire Robert Watts. The police will continue their investigation and  the prosecutor will decide whether to press charges against the players. Dillard said he hoped to have the investigation finalized within the week.

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September 8, 2015

Football official who was targeted by Texas players breaks silence

By Jimmy Isbell, TexasHSFootball.com

September 7, 2015

The high school football official seemingly targeted by two San Antonio John Jay football players has broken his silence to TexasHSFootball.com’s Ronald Oswalt.

The official was identified by the Austin American Statesman as Robert Watts, a 14-year veteran.

“I like to keep my officiating quiet; unfortunately this will be big news,” he said. “Libel and slander have already been committed against me. I will be contacting the appropriate people soon and any statement from me will come at a later date.”

It is unclear what recourse Watts intends to take.

Watts was knocked down by one player in the fourth quarter of the game at Marble Falls and then another player jumped on him.

As soon as No. 12 knocked him down, No. 81— strong safety opposite of No. 12 — barreled into the official as he laid there on the turf. As soon as the play ended, and the referee gathered himself, he ejected No. 12, but ejected No. 7, who had not been involved in the hits on the official, but came over to him after the play. No. 81, who was the second player to hit the referee remained in the game.

Two John Jay players had previously been ejected for trash talking, according to reports.

Also Monday, the Marble Falls Police Department announced that it was opening an investigation and hoped to have a resolution determined within a week. No arrests have been made at this point.

With school back in session Tuesday, the Northside ISD is expected to begin a “due process hearing,” according to district spokesman Pascual Gonzales.

The players have been suspended from the team and school.

“We will handle this incident on Tuesday morning and schedule a due process hearing which will include formal interviews with coaching staffing , the students themselves and other athletes, anyone who has knowledge of whatever was seen. The bottom line is, Northside will not tolerate this type of behavior. It does appear the athletes intentionally tackled the referee, but we have not confirmed it.”

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September 7, 2015

Two high school football players from San Antonio were ejected for vicious cheap shots on the referee!

Two high school football players in Texas were ejected from a game late in the fourth quarter after appearing to intentionally target a referee and hit him from behind.

Marble Falls led John Jay 15-9 and had possession of the ball with around one minute remaining on the clock. As Marble Falls rushed the ball, one John Jay player lined up as a safety charged into the back of the referee, nearly 10 yards away from the play. After the referee fell to the ground, another player dove into him, leading with his helmet. Both players were ejected, and Northside Independent School District says it is investigating the incident.

John Jay’s coach Gary Gutierrez apologized for his players’ actions after the game!

“After the game, [Marble Falls coach Matt] Green said Jay coach Gary Gutierrez apologized for the late events.

Green said he had to believe there was no way Gutierrez condoned the behavior and was upset with the behavior of those players…. Green said the play was unique from others he’s witnessed during his career.

“I’ve coached 14 years and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Green said.”
In the final moments of a 15-9 loss, the pair of defensive backs charged the unsuspecting referee, knocking him to the ground. Two other players were ejected on separate plays before the ref was hit.

Police in Texas investigating…

The Marble Falls Police Department in Texas it…

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San Antonio

Jay player who hit referee stayed in the game, hit Marble Falls QB on final play.

Two John Jay football players who appear to have deliberately hit a referee have been suspended

By Ben Baby

Updated 10:39 pm, Sunday, September 6, 2015

Two John Jay High School football players who appear to have deliberately tackled a referee during a game Friday night, have been suspended from school as well as the team, officials said Sunday.

The district released a statement Sunday morning about the event.

“This is disturbing,” Northside ISD spokesman Pascual Gonzalez said as part of the district’s official statement. “It is not the sportsmanlike behavior that we teach our students. We are cooperating fully with the University Interscholastic League with this investigation.”

Late in Jay’s 15-9 loss at Marble Falls, one defensive back ran from 7 yards away into the back of an official watching a run play unfold 9 yards in front of him.

After the referee fell to the turf after the first hit, another player standing to the right of the referee and several yards away led with his helmet and dove into the official.

Both players were ejected. Northside ISD athletic director Stan Laing said the video was “very disturbing.” Laing said the district is investigating the sequence of events leading up to the play, and the UIL is aware of what happened.

Jay players appear to target official with huge hit.

Both players were ejected and Northside ISD and the University Interscholastic League are now looking into the play.

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Jay players appear to target official with huge hit.

“The question of what instigated that is what we’re trying to figure out,” Laing said.

Laing said the officiating chapter that oversees the Austin-based crew that worked the game is in the process of getting statements regarding the incident.

Before that play, two Jay players were ejected on separate plays. The incident occurred with about a minute left in the game, according to Marble Falls coach Matt Green.

Marble Falls was looking to gain the yards required to extend its possession and effectively run out the clock and called for a handoff toward the left side of the line of scrimmage.

The penalties stemming from the incident gave Marble Falls a first down. After the game, Green said Jay coach Gary Gutierrez apologized for the late events.

Green said he had to believe there was no way Gutierrez condoned the behavior and was upset with the behavior of those players. Laing said the district is trying to get multiple accounts of what happened leading up to the play and determine what instigated those events.

Green said the play was unique from others he’s witnessed during his career.

“I’ve coached 14 years and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Green said.

It looks like the coach from San Antonio needs to send this whole team and especially the two fellows to anger management classes instead of football training.  Or better still, they need to be removed from the team for the rest of the year for poor sportsmanship and anger.

kommonsentsjane