Three coaches have been charged for violently brawling at a youth football game in Pennsylvania over the weekend.
The brawl occurred when football coaches from Carlynton and Keystone Oaks began yelling at each other during a Steel City Youth Football League game featuring third- and fourth-grade players. Punches were eventually thrown, and footage of the ensuing fight went viral.
“If you watch the video, the Carlynton coach goes up to a Keystone Oaks coach,” Carnegie Police Chief Jeffrey Kennedy said. “There’s a little bit of pushing there, then people are trying to hold the Carlynton coach back, several people, and another time appears that another Keystone Oaks coach goes up to him and the Carlynton coach body slams him.”
DeQuay Canton, an offensive coach with Carlynton, now faces a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct. Joseph Kubiak and Frank McGrath face just one summary charge of disorderly conduct.
Kennedy said that the video tells the “whole story”
“Video doesn’t lie,” Kennedy said. “It tells the whole story. We’ve watched it probably 40 or 50 times just to see everything, and the big difference between the Carlynton coach and why we charged him with a misdemeanor, he threw punches. He didn’t back down.”
According to CBS News, the criminal complaint said that “Canton acted aggressively toward coach McGrath, and as the two met up near the play, McGrath pushed Canton twice, which led Canton to swat his arms off of him.”
“As people yelled for Canton to get off the field, Canton allegedly continued to swing his arms,” it added. “Once coach Kubiak came into the scrum, he ran at Canton, and Canton leg-tackled him, taking him to the ground. Kubiak was then seen throwing punches toward Canton. Canton hit Kubiak with a punch while he was on the ground.
According to Canton, several of his players were reportedly in tears after alleging that they received racial slurs during the game. Speaking with KDKA-TV, he asked the refs to investigate the slurs and then lost his temper.
“I read the Carlynton coach’s response, and he said it was racial slurs were said, and we took that into account,” Kennedy said. “But no matter what was said, his conduct could not be explained, and that’s why we filed the charges. But we have no proof of any kind of racial slurs at this time.”