BALTIMORE — A large fight at Friday night's City College versus Baltimore Polytechnic high school football game, has cost both teams any chance of entering the state playoffs.
The brawl broke out following the game, which was played on Homewood Field at Johns Hopkins University.
It reportedly involved players, students, and community members on both sides.
In a Monday letter sent to both schools, Tiffany Byrd, Supervisor of Athletics for City Schools said "when a team engages in a fight, they are automatically suspended for the next game. For both of our teams, this means that they will not participate in the state playoffs."
The game was the last of the regular season schedule. City won, improving their overall record to 6-3.
Poly however finished the season with a better 8-2 record, placing them 12th among Maryland's Class 3A High School Football Rankings.
It's not the first time such an incident has occurred between the two squads.
City and Poly have been bitter rivals for years. They have faced off against each other 133 times, with City coming out victorious in the last 10 contests.
"Unfortunately, fighting and poor sportsmanship cannot be tolerated and there are clear consequences," said Byrd. "While we are disappointed that these teams will not compete in the playoffs, we are hopeful that all involved will learn from this experience and carry on the great traditions of our respective schools."
Mayor Brandon Scott said the decision to disqualify both teams from the playoffs was the right call.
"It's unfortunate for those young people especially in their senior year. But consequences have actions," said Scott. "We can't have that kind of behavior, especially when you have so many people, 7000 people, coming out to a college campus to see you play."
Baltimore City Schools CEO, Sonja Santelises, reacted Monday vowing an investigation into the incident.
"You can call it melee interaction, but it was widespread," said Santelises. "We're real clear about conduct and what the repercussions for that are, I don't think it represents the best of the two teams or the two coaching staffs."
