Brawl ends N. Indiana HS football game in first half

School officials at Michigan City and South Bend Washington in Indiana are gathering information to forward to the Indiana High School Athletic Association following a first-half brawl Friday night that required police intervention.

The game was called with 2:54 remaining in the first half after school officials, coaches and police met to determine whether to continue. Garland Hudson, the athletic director at Washington, said police made the decision top stop the game, in part to avoid the potential for an incident like the benches-clearing basketball brawl in February between Hammond and Griffith.

According to the Michigan City News Dispatch, the brawl started after a penalty was assessed for a late hit when a Washington player hit Michigan City's Markice Hurt out of bounds on the Michigan City sideline. Players got into a shoving match and that escalated. The incident lasted about a minute, school officials said, and they indicated that the coaches did well to contain the situation.

Officials from the two schools met Saturday.

Hudson told WSBT on Saturday that the administration at each school is "establishing facts in the situation and creating plans to address players and coaches. This plan will support the ideals of the IHSAA sportsmanship outline with disciplinary action being addressed by both schools."

He said the information would be turned over to the state association by Monday.

"It's very unfortunate," Hudson told WNDU on Saturday. "The thing when I came in being Athletic Director is sportsmanship. We have zero tolerance for non sports related incidents. If you character is being challenged, you need to fall back."

In a statement, Bobby Cox, the head of the IHSAA, said he was encouraged the schools were working together but declined further comment other than to express disappointment that the brawl overshadowed opening night in the state.

"Both communities share the same values, and it's more important for everyone to go home safely rather than for us to have the possibility of a brawl to take place," Michigan City police officer Dion Campbell told the News Dispatch.