Leading off today: An Ohio football opener was called midway through Saturday's second quarter after a player
head-butted an official.
Cincinnati Roger Bacon High won the shortened game at Dayton Dunbar after an unidentified Dunbar player attacked the official on the field while arguing a penalty as Bacon was driving for a score.
"The penalty that made the kid mad was their 12th penalty already," Roger Bacon coach Mike Blaut said. "They were marking off the ball, half the distance to the goal line, and that's when he went right after the referee and head-butted him. He hit him on the right side of his head.
"The kid ripped his helmet off and went after the white hat (referee). I just saw them scuffling. I yelled for my kids to get off the field because their sideline was getting out of control."
Officials then went and talked to the Dunbar sideline and their athletic director. Then, the Roger Bacon-side line judge approached Blaut.
"He said, 'The game's over,'" Blaut said. "'We're not playing this game anymore, you guys win. Get your kids in the locker room and get them out of here.'"
The Dayton Public Schools district and Dunbar specifically are on probation from the Ohio High School Athletic Association dating back to an incident in the 2016 season when Dunbar players were allegedly instructed to intentionally lose their final regular-season game in a scheme to reach the state playoffs after using an ineligible player.
The OHSAA quickly issued a statement.
"In the coming days, we will continue to work with Dunbar High School and Dayton Public Schools regarding this incident," the statement said. "This is a very serious incident and we will investigate it to the fullest extent possible. Dunbar and DPS have fully cooperated since the game ended and at this point, it appears to be an isolated incident from one student-athlete."
Speaking of officials: Even though ejections of players and coaches is down 12-16 percent in the most recent survey of Indiana high school sports, fan ejections there are up 43 percent -- mostly due to verbal or physical abuse toward officials.
It's contributing to the continued decline in the number of available game officials.
"It just keeps on getting worse and I'm afraid. ... I'm afraid someone's gonna get killed," said former IHSAA referee Bob White, who now coaches youth sports at the Boys & Girls Club.
Said Ted Lobdell, a youth sports official: "You can't even go to the restroom really sometimes without people coming into there and complaining to you about their 9-year-old son, you know committing a foul. In a 9-year-old basketball game? Really? It's not just dads. Moms are vicious. They are vicious. When they come after you, they come after you with a passion. I've had women follow me to my car."
Shooting at Ala. game: A 17-year-old student is in custody after he allegedly opened fire into a crowded football stadium in Mobile, Alabama, and injured nine people Friday night.
The victims range in age from 15 to 18 years old. An additional person in the crowd suffered a seizure and another injured a hand trying to escape the chaos.
Deangelo Parnell was arrested early Saturday and charged with nine counts of attempted murder. Parnell is being charged as an adult, according to a police spokesperson.
"This was a cowardly act by an individual that didn't know how to deal with a conflict or disagreement that he was having with someone else other than recklessly discharging a firearm into a crowded venue," said Mobile Police Chief Lawrence Battiste. "That's unacceptable."
Back in business: The Wyandanch football team began fall practice Saturday after an emergency school board
