San Antonio HS Football Players Hit Referee on Video: Latest Comments, Reaction

The Northside Independent School District and the University Interscholastic League in San Antonio are investigating after two John Jay High School football players violently collided with a referee during a game against Marble Falls.

Late in the team's 15-9 loss, a Jay defensive back slammed into the back of a referee. His teammate then dove into the ref as he was on the ground, leading with his helmet. Video of the incident was posted on YouTube.

On Sept. 18, the players talked about their actions on Good Morning America, and said they were told to hit the referee by a coach:

Both players were ejected from the game and were later suspended from the team, per Sharon Ko of KENS 5.

"The question of what instigated that is what we're trying to figure out," Northside ISD athletic director Stan Laing told Ben Baby of MySanAntonio.com, calling the incident "very disturbing." KENS5.com staff and David Flores of KENS 5 continued with more from Laing: 

"

It is what it is when you see it on the video. Obviously, that's very disturbing and inexcusable. That type of behavior certainly would never be condoned. ...

We have to be very careful with what we say until we get the entire story. It’s really unfortunate. We’re still getting stories on different things. That’s why we’ve got to make sure to get the entire story before we basically share it with everybody, because we don’t want anything out there to be assumed. We want to be very clear on exactly what happened.

We’ll just have to go through the whole investigation and let all that come out. We will investigate and take appropriate action on what we need to do, what we need to address.

"

Assistant coach Mack Breed, who is accused of suggesting the students should retaliate against the referee, has been placed on leave, according to Northside Independent School District Superintendent Brian T. Woods, via ESPN.com. Woods also stated the two students will have a disciplinary hearing and the district is filing a complaint with the Texas Association of Sports Officials about the students' allegation that a racial slur was used.

"The referee was 'very upset' and 'wanting to press charges,' Austin Football Officials Association secretary Wayne Elliott told the AP," per the Chicago Tribune. "Elliott said he was seeking guidance from the state officials association, adding, 'The first thing we want is that those two kids never play football again.' He declined to release the referee's name."

Per Baby, two Jay players had already been ejected from the game on separate plays. "But Laing said the video clip could tell 'only part of the story' of what sparked the incident. He would not elaborate further, citing the pending investigation by the school district," noted KENS5.com and Flores. The incident in question occurred while Marble Falls was attempting to run out the clock and preserve its win.

KENS 5 and Flores also provided a statement from NISD spokesman Pascual Gonzales:

"

This incident is extremely disturbing, not the sportsman like behavior we teach students at Northside ISD. We are cooperating with the UIL investigation. 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.

"

"I've coached 14 years and I've never seen anything like it," Marble Falls coach Matt Green said.