N/A
Richard Reed, a 17-year-old high school football player from California, died late Sunday night from a gunshot wound, according to Rene Ray De La Cruz of the Victorville Daily Press.
Police responded to a call at around 11 p.m. Sunday near the intersection of Jade Road and Purple Sage Drive in Victorville, California, a San Bernardino County sheriff's spokesperson told De La Cruz. Officers found Reed with a gunshot wound, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
No further information was provided, and an investigation has been opened.
Reed, a senior, was a star football player for the Silverado High School Hawks, playing offense, defense and special teams. He was named the Desert Sky League defensive player of the year in 2021.
Victor Valley Union High School District Superintendent Carl Coles said in a statement:
“This is a heartbreaking loss for the students, staff, and families of Silverado High School. On behalf of the Board of Trustees and the entire VVUHSD community, we will keep Richard’s family, friends, teammates, coaches, and teachers in our thoughts and prayers. We will continue to support each other as we face this devastating tragedy.”
The Silverado Hawks are set to play a first-round playoff game Friday, and it is expected to go on as scheduled.
"Many of the players are still in shock, and when we heard the news today, football was the furthest thing from our minds," Silverado High School Principal Heather Conkle said. "But the players are also extremely unified right now. They want to play this game for Richard."
A Chicago-area youth football organization featuring nearly 200 players and cheerleaders has been suspended for fielding an academically advanced student.
WLS-TV's John Garcia reported Friday the Glenwood Cougars have been barred from the Southwest Midget Football League (SWMFL) in Illinois for having Tremayne Gandy Jr. on their roster.
Gandy, 13, meets the age requirement for the 14-and-under program, but he's already advanced to the 10th grade, where students who are 15 or 16 typically reside, and the league's rules state a team can't have a high school student.
"Here's a young man that is 13 years old doing a 10th grade education and he is being penalized," team president Gary Richardson told Garcia. "Not just him, but the whole program is being penalized."
The league released a statement, saying in part it's "regrettable to enforce a disciplinary action that affects the wider organization, however, each of the 13 franchises in the league have agreed to honor these bylaws in exchange for fair play."
Glenwood coaches told WLS-TV that Gandy has been in the program for several years and, at 140 pounds, isn't yet physically mature enough to compete against older high school opponents.
The Cougars will have to forfeit their final four games and can't participate in the playoffs if the ban isn't reversed by the SWMFL board.
Two football players at Bishop Amat High School in La Puente, California, alleged they were assaulted by coaches from another school.
Jesse Ramos told Fred Robledo of the San Gabriel Valley Tribune that his son, Adrian Ramos, got into an altercation with the Damien High School football head coach and another assistant coach after their game Friday. The 19-year-old student allegedly had his helmet ripped off and ended up with a bruise under his eye.
A second student also filed a police report, per Melissa Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times.
"A 19-year-old Bishop Amat student alleges two subjects battered him, and at least one of the subjects involved is a Damien High School Football Team coach," La Verne Police Chief Colleen Flores said in a statement. "The La Verne Police Department is actively investigating the incident, and no further details are available at this time."
Damien head coach Matt Bechtel has been placed on administrative leave while the archdiocese of Los Angeles conducts an internal investigation into the incident.
According to Hernandez, the altercation began following Friday night's rivalry game between the teams. Bishop Amat head coach Steve Hagerty allegedly refused to shake Bechtel's hand after the game, and Bechtel confronted him. Players and coaches from both teams soon got invovled.
Bishop Amat won the game 35-7.
The Dauphin County (Pennsylvania) District Attorney has announced charges against 10 Middletown High School students stemming from alleged sexual assaults and hazing by members of the football team.
According to Gina Martinez of CBS News, an investigation began after a video posted to social media appeared to show a player being sexually assaulted during a team practice on Aug. 11. A police report was filed on Aug. 12, leading to a monthlong investigation in which more than 80 people were interviewed.
The police determined six students were assaulted over the past year, with the victims all between 14 and 16 years old.
The alleged August assault took place in the team's turf room with no adult supervision for 23 minutes. According to the district attorney, "police learned that three other students were also assaulted over the last year during various incidents, with at least one incident occurring at a residence."
Two 17-year-olds were identified as the main perpetrators in all of the assaults, and they were charged with multiple juvenile counts of criminal attempt to commit involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault, unlawful restraint, simple assault and hazing.
"This investigation did not involve just hazing or 'boys will be boys' conduct," Chief Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Gettle said in a statement. "Rather, two of these individuals committed repeated sexual assaults and encouraged others to participate under the guise of hazing."
The eight other students face varied charges, including unlawful restraint, simple assault and hazing.
Gettle also indicated all the cases will be handled by the juvenile system because each suspect is under 18 years old.
Middletown Area School District Superintendent Dr. Chelton Hunter said in a statement that the district wants to "express our disappointment and concern for the actions of these students."
Linden (New Jersey) High School football player Xavier McClain died Wednesday as a result of a traumatic brain injury suffered while playing in a game earlier this month.
"Together we prayed for a miracle and hoped for a different outcome," Linden mayor Derek Armstead said in a Facebook post. "I trust that God knows better. HE needed an angel and decided to call Xavier home to be with HIM. With your prayers, Xavier fought a good fight. In the end, he succumbed to the injuries that he sustained a couple weeks ago while playing football during the LHS Tigers’ game vs Woodbridge."
McClain was originally injured on a kickoff return in a Sept. 9 game against Woodbridge, per Mike Kinney of NJ.com. He was attended to for around 10 minutes on the field before being rushed to a local hospital and being placed on life support.
The sophomore standout was playing a starring role for Linden on both sides of the ball, serving as a cornerback and dynamic X-factor on offense, per Kinney.
"My wife and I spend time in their home and our children played together. Tragically, their worst fear came true. Norm and Lisa are devastated. Children are supposed to outlive their parents, not the other way around. I asked that you continue to keep the family in your prayers," Armstead said.
Joe Pastrana, who is the defensive coordinator for Vallejo High School in California, was reportedly shot and injured while breaking up a fight on the school's campus Tuesday.
While the Vallejo Police Department did not release Pastrana's name, Cheryl Hurd and Diana San Juan of NBC Bay Area reported "there was an outpouring of concern from friends and students who say" he was the one who was shot.
"The fact that he was here, he potentially saved a child’s life," Vallejo Police Department Chief Shawny Williams said.
According to Antonio Planas of NBC News, police said that "the staff member was struck by at least one bullet and suffered a non-life-threatening injury."
Police also said they do not think those who shot Pastrana are students at the school.
The school was placed on lockdown after the incident because there were approximately 200 student-athletes on campus with a college fair and multiple classes occurring.
A lawsuit was filed Tuesday on behalf of T.A. Cunningham, a defensive lineman for Los Alamitos High School, challenging an ineligibility ruling by the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section.
Michael Caspino, the player's attorney, told ESPN's Kyle Bonagura the CIF-SS initially denied Cunningham's hardship application but, after being presented with paperwork showing his family was evicted from its Georgia home earlier this year, the governing body said it would instead open an undue influence investigation related to his connection to the Levels Sports Group, which meant Cunningham would remain ineligible.
"T.A. Cunningham is being treated differently," Caspino said. "He really is."
Cunningham is one of the top players in the 2024 college football recruiting class. He's a 5-star prospect and the No. 19 overall recruit in that year's group, according to 247Sports' composite rankings.
The lawsuit states the lineman transferred to Los Alamitos during the offseason based on a conversation between his father and the Levels Sports Group.
"The Levels Team promised that the Cunningham family would have a home, transportation and meals in California," the court filing said. "A promise was even made that the Levels Team would provide a separate home in Georgia for [Cunningham's] mother."
Levels is a marketing group aimed a providing high school and college student-athletes with name, image and likeness (NIL) deals, but its co-founder Chris Flores was arrested in August and charged with multiple counts of sexual assault of a minor.
The lawsuit states Cunningham's agreement with Levels was rescinded after Flores' arrest, which left him homeless and with no NIL deals to provide income.
"He has been victimized," the filing said.
The initial response from the CIF-SS said the player's eligibility waiver was declined "based on the grounds that [Cunningham] does not meet the definition of a 'homeless student' and/or has failed to establish that his change of schools was due to a 'hardship,'" per ESPN.
CIF-SS commissioner Rob Wigod declined to comment to Bonagura about the undue influence investigation or the lawsuit, citing "policy not to comment on pending litigation."
Los Alamitos' next game is Thursday night against Santa Margarita Catholic High School. Caspino is seeking an "immediate order" from the court to make Cunningham available for that contest.
A high school football game between two teams in Texas last week was called in the fourth quarter because of a massive brawl on the field.
In a fan video posted on YouTube, the incident began when two players for Dallas Roosevelt High School and Fort Worth Eastern Hills High School got tangled up after a play that led to both benches clearing.
Per Tim Weaver of USA Today, officials disqualified both teams as a result of the brawl.
The Dallas Independent School District said in a statement it is aware of the incident and is gathering additional information.
"The school and the local district executive committee are investigating and have the authority to impose penalties for involved students," the statement said.
Per Paul Wedding of WFAA.com, there were also fans in the stands who jumped the fence and got involved in the altercation. Play was stopped with about six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter with Eastern Hills holding a 35-12 lead.
According to Weaver, players involved in the brawl will miss the first half of the next game they play. Eligible players on the junior varsity squad will be elevated to the varsity roster for their team.
Gary Gaines, who served as the head coach of the Texas high school football team featured in the Friday Night Lights book, died Monday at the age of 73.
Gaines' family said in a statement his death came after a "long battle with Alzheimer's disease," according to the Associated Press.
Author H.G. Bissinger spent the entire 1988 season embedded with the Permian High School football team to write Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team and a Dream, which was released in 1990.
It was later adapted into a movie starring Billy Bob Thornton in 2004 and a television series, which ran for five seasons beginning in 2006.
Gaines, who left Permian after the 1989 season, returned to the school in 2009 for the final stop of his coaching career, which spanned over 30 years at the high school and college levels.
The Associated Press noted the Texas native never read the book about his 1988 team, and in a prior interview with the AP, he stated his family was unhappy with how elements were portrayed.
"I said, 'What's so bad about it?'" Gaines said of a conversation with his wife, Sharon. "She said, '[Bissinger] acted like we're a bunch of racists.'"
Other coaches like Ron King, who worked as an assistant for Gaines at Permian, remembered him as a "difference-maker," per Lee Scheide of the Odessa American.
"I was there when he was inducted into the Texas High School Coaches Hall of Fame," King said. "I just can't find the words to pay respects. It's a big loss for the coaching profession. There are a lot of coaches he took under his wing and mentored."
Along with leading several Texas high school teams, Gaines also spent five years as head coach of the Abilene Christian college program starting in 2000.
He retired from coaching in 2012 and was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2017.
