New Castle – Just before 5:00 yesterday afternoon, police officers from multiple agencies respond to William Penn High School for reports of a fight in progress.
Officials with Colonial School District released the following statement regarding the incident.
“Statement regarding September 8th WPHS Football Game
At approximately 4:55 pm, at the conclusion of today’s football game between William Penn(WP) HS and Mergenthaler VoTech HS (Baltimore City, MD) at Bill Cole Stadium, the visiting team confronted two William Penn fans which caused a disturbance.
Mergenthaler was winning the game by a score of 14 – 7, and towards the end of the fourth quarter, Mergenthaler players began taunting WP players. Their head coach was also ejected from the game in the last minute for entering the field of play and yelling at the officials. At the conclusion of play, WP players were directed by WP Head Coach Matt Sabol, to go to the end zone on the opposite side of the field, away from the opposing players.
As the Mergenthaler players & coaches exited the field, they were overheard using obscenities and inappropriate gestures towards WP fans and spectators exiting the stadium. Two William Penn students exiting the game, were immediately confronted by a few members of the opposing team. Suddenly, more Mergenthaler football players engaged in confrontation with the two William Penn students.
No William Penn players were involved in the incident, which lasted about 5 minutes.
The school’s administration, district constables, and William Penn fans were able to extract the WP students from the incident, but tensions remained high and police were called for additional support. With additional police support the scene was calmed as the Mergenthaler team left in their buses.
The Colonial School District would like to commend the WP Football coaching staff and players for their sportsmanship in this tense situation. The Colonial School District would also like to recognize the WP administrative team and constables for their efforts to maintain safety and security for all those in attendance at the game. The Colonial School District also appreciates the spectators and fans who chose not to engage in the incident but help diffuse it.”