Players Punished After Brawl Ends Pawnee-Hominy Playoff Game

The Friday night lights turned into a Friday night fight for two Oklahoma high school football teams last week.

Fifteen players are suspended for their involvement in a brawl between Pawnee and Hominy, but one side said the punishment is disproportionate.

In what turned out to be the final play of Pawnee's first playoff appearance in eight seasons ended in a brawl.

“Football's a very emotional sport,” said Pawnee’s assistant football coach, Karey Jones.

The refs called the game three minutes into the third quarter. Pawnee was trailing 55-0 when the fight broke out following a hard tackle on the kickoff return.

The entire game had been contentious.

Jones said, “It was getting out of hand.”

Pawnee's assistant coach said one of his players started the fight and accepts responsibility for that.

“This is an embarrassment to our community, to our school, to our football team, to what we accomplished this year,” Jones said.

But, he said Hominy's team broke rules, too.

“It was a lot of purple mixed with the red and white and it was both sides acting inappropriately. Everybody involved needs to be held accountable,” Jones said.

Both teams investigated and sent the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activity Association their own reports, video and picture evidence as well as a list of players who should face consequences.

Players who left the sideline to go onto the field during the fight are to be benched during the next football game or their next winter sport game. Players directly involved in the fight have to sit out the next two football games or their next two winter sport games.

The OSSAA determined 13 Pawnee players needed to be penalized while only two Hominy players would be suspended. But the folks in Pawnee say that's not an accurate reflection of what they say happened on the field that night.

Hominy's athletic director, Ed Green, said none of their players were fighting and were trying to break it up, instead.

“From some of the things we saw on the film, their kids were deliberately trying to put some of our kids out of the game and to me that's not acceptable,” Green said.

He said Hominy could justify why all but two players were on the field.

“We went through those pictures and decided, these are our kids that are coming on the field transitioning defense. These are the kids that are supposed to be on the field,” Green said.

In the end, he said nobody won last Friday night.

“It left a black eye on that whole night and it's been a black eye all this week for me and for the coaches and for Pawnee,” Green said. “Everybody's suffered from this and it's just gonna take some time for wounds to heal.”

And if nothing else for Pawnee, it’s a lesson, Jones said. “You can't fight. It's just like in life, you're not gonna go out on the street and start fighting with somebody and not be held accountable, you'll end up in jail.”

Two Hominy players who left the sideline and went on the field during the fight won’t be allowed in Friday’s playoff game.

Since Pawnee is out of the playoffs, their 13 players will have to sit out either one or two games of upcoming winter sports, like basketball or wrestling.