SPARTA — A high school football coach and his team were ambushed by opposing players after a game, and helmets were used as weapons in the ensuing brawl, Warren County’s school superintendent said.
Superintendent Carole Jean Carey said she was with Warren County High School coach David Daniels and the team when they returned to their locker room after Friday’s 21- 2 win over Hancock Central in
Sparta.
Carey says they found the locker room doors locked, and their players and coaches were cornered.
“It seemed like they were just waiting there,” she said in an interview with WRDW-TV.
Carey said she saw Daniels being smashed in the face with a helmet during the fight that followed. Several members of Warren County’s team were hit and bruised in the brawl, she said.
School officials said the coach has crushed bones in his face, and surgeons had to place metal plates in his head.
Hancock County Sheriff Tomlyn Primus said his office is looking into the matter. No charges have been filed.
Hancock Central defensive coordinator Marleau Blount said he’s not sure about what punishments would be handed out.
“It was real unfortunate. I’m upset at everything,” he told the Augusta Chronicle.
Officials with the Georgia High School Association also have asked both schools to give accounts of what happened and to outline what security measures were taken, GHSA head Ralph Swearingin said.
Regardless of the outcome of the investigations, Carey said one thing is clear:
“We will not be playing Hancock County this year. We will not play them in any other sport,” she said.