Footbrawl: Cross Creek moves forward after fight halts game

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - We’re looking into the fallout from a fight that broke out Friday night at Cross Creek High School’s away football game.

The game between Savannah High and Cross Creek ended Friday night when two players began to fight on the field.

According to the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System, the fight then spread and both teams became involved. The fight remained on the field.

A Savannah High coach was injured, and one Savannah High player was taken to a hospital for evaluation.

Within minutes of the fight breaking out, district athletic staff made the decision to call the game. Those in attendance were asked to leave the stadium.

Dr. Kwanza Oliver is a band mom for Savannah High. She says once things escalated, those in the stands were scared.

“There were so many thoughts going through my head. I was in shock. I felt like I might have been watching you know, a show on TV. Of course I was afraid, there was fear,” said Oliver.

The P.A. announcements let her know it was serious.

“The announcer kept saying ‘Parents please don’t rush the field’, and it was at that moment that we all began to realize that this is getting ready to be out of control. Nobody is going to be able to stop this locomotive from happening,” Oliver said.

She also adds law enforcement did a great job containing the fight and not letting it get any worse.

Cross Creek Head Coach Ezzard Horn said it’s unfortunate the fight happened at the game because athletes from both schools weren’t able to finish the game.

“We have seniors on the team that every minute counts for them, this being their last season of high school football, and they want to make sure they play every minute they can in their senior year,” he said.

He tries to teach players to stay out of situations like this.

“We have to always keep our cool and keep our head,” said Horn. “Every time we step onto the field, other teams aren’t going to be as courteous as we would try to be on the football field.”

He said no students have been disciplined so far because officials are still waiting on a ruling from the Georgia High School Association.

Richmond County Board of Education Charlie President Walker Jr. said officials are still gathering information on the incident and he doesn’t have all the necessary information yet.

The Richmond County School system says they are investigating alongside the Georgia High School Association and says students could face GHSA and Richmond County Code of Student Conduct discipline for any unsportsmanlike actions that took place Friday night.

Horn said the Cross Creek and Richmond County School System administrations are making sure that each time the athletes step onto the field, they’re safe.

Moving forward, Horn said he and his players are just going to “keep our mind focused on the end goal, which is winning the football game, finishing the football game, and finishing the football season out strong.”

This was Cross Creek’s second game impacted by violence. Week one against Butler was canceled because of safety concerns.

As far as the Savannah School District, officials there said they regret that the incident happened.

“Any of our student-athletes found to have been involved in the fighting on the field will face the appropriate consequences per our Student Code of Conduct,” the district said.

The district said Monday it’s still in a fact-gathering mode and has no further comment right now.

The district said two juveniles were taken into custody after an incident in the parking lot. They were released to their parents and no arrests were made. Horn said those students weren’t from Augusta.

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