Brawl mars Lake City’s upset win over Wilson
ANGELA E. KERSHNER/MORNING NEWS
Lake City’s Stevenson Gatson (12) breaks a tackle by Wilson defensive back Devarius Wheeler, bottom, and slips past linebacker Craig Brown on Thursday at Memorial Stadium. Lake City won 19-12.
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By Kevin Smetana
SCNOW.COM Multimedia Journalist
Published: August 29, 2008
FLORENCE — Wilson’s first game since winning the state championship last season had an ugly ending as the Tigers and Lake City brawled on the field as soon as the clock ran out Thursday night at Memorial Stadium.
The Panthers ended the game by kneeling on the ball to seal a 19-12 win, but before Lake City even had time to celebrate, nearly every player from both teams was on the field fighting.
JOINT STATEMENT
Florence School Districts 1 and 3 Friday morning released this statement on the incident:
District officials with Florence School District One and Florence County School District Three are cooperating with law enforcement and the South Carolina High School League in their investigation into an altercation between football players from Wilson High School and Lake City High School at the conclusion of a game between the two teams on Thursday, August 28.
Both districts are conducting their own investigation to determine which players were responsible for starting and escalating the altercation. Any players found to be involved in the altercation will face disciplinary action pursuant to their respective district’s student behavior code.
“We both (Beth Wright, Florence Three Superintendent and I) are saddened by the actions demonstrated by players on both teams,” said Florence School District One Superintendent Larry Jackson. “We do not condone unsportsmanlike conduct at our athletic events, and we want everyone to be aware that it will not be tolerated.”
ADDITIONAL CONTENT
The Wilson Tigers take on the Lake City Panthers at Memorial Stadium in Florence on Thursday, August 28, 2008. Click here to view images from this game.
At least one player from each team was detained and handcuffed by Florence County Sheriff’s Office deputies.
The fight happened shortly after Panthers’ defensive end Donquill McElveen lay motionless on the field for about 15 minutes before being carted off by paramedics.
Lake City offensive line coach Brandon Shealy, the only coach from either team who would comment after the game, said McElveen was taken to a local hospital after suffering a bruised back.
McElveen’s injury happened on a play in which Wilson quarterback Maliek McCall threw a 14-yard pass to Caleb Davis, but McElveen was at least 20 yards behind where the play ended. Shealy said McElveen was “speared in the back with a helmet.”
“There was no call (from the officials), but hey, that’s fine,” Shealy said. “He’s OK. That’s the most important thing.”
Play resumed with 5:41 left in the game, but Wilson could not mount a comeback.
Shealy said the fight was not an act of retaliation for McElveen’s injury, rather it was the result of two former region rivals meeting in Week One.
“No, not at all,” he said about retaliation being a factor. “This is an all-time rivalry right here.”
Several players sucker-punched others who were on the ground, and some used their helmets to beat opposing players. Coaches, game officials and deputies broke the brawl up after nearly five minutes of fighting.
No players were injured, but one coach was taken to a local hospital for minor injuries, Lt. Brett Camp told WBTW.
Deputies were told some of the Wilson players were upset about the loss, which led to some of those players spitting on Lake City players and throwing their helmets at them, Camp said.
The sheriff’s office is investigating the incident, Camp said.
As for the game itself, Lake City took a 12-6 lead into the fourth quarter against the defending 3A state champions.
The Panthers extended that lead to 19-6 after tailback Jonathan Hudson scored on a 56-yard run with 8:34 left in the game.
Wilson made it a one-possession game with a 2-yard touchdown pass from McCall to John Israel with 4:45 left, but Lake City held off the Tigers.
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Reader Reactions
Posted by ( philly ) on September 10, 2008 at 6:48 am
“phatanner”, I agree with you 100% this is a criminal offense and should be treated as such. If it happened at a store or any where else, they be locked up, so what is the difference here? They put others lifes in danger and all they are getting is a “slap on the wrist’.
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Posted by ( auntie29560 ) on September 04, 2008 at 12:21 pm
I AM SAD BY BOTH TEAMS THIS HAPPENED.I DID NOT GO TO THE GAME DUE TO HAVING TO BE AT WORK I AM A L.C. FAN BUT DUE RESPECT ANY TEAM THAT IS PLAYING.I KNOW WILSON PROB. WANTED TO COME IN THIS SEASON WANTING A WINNING SEASON LIKE LAST YEAR WHO WOULD’NT?AND YEA IT WAS PROB. HARD LOOSING THE 1ST. GAME.I WISH ANY TEAM WOULD’NT THINK THEY HAVE TO GO AND DO THINGS LIKE THIS TO GET EVEN BUT ANYONE WOULD WANT TO DEFEND THEIRSELF.HOPEFULLY BOTH TEAMS CAN LEARN FROM THIS AND LOOK FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON AS A POSITIVE ONE…
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Posted by ( football34 ) on September 03, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Wow you must have some amazing eyes to be able to see a player for lake city spit on a wilson player. And since you saw this happen what was the number of the lake city player and what was the number of the wilson player who got spit on? And you say wilson was defending themselves huh….so I guess your definition of defending yourself is waiting for lake citys lineman to turn around then 3 wilson players jump 1 lake city player from behind…. yeah that really seems like self defense to me… And that is an undisputable fact because it is on tape.
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Posted by ( u603722 ) on September 03, 2008 at 10:21 am
I believe both teams should be suspended and not allowed to even compete in the Championship if they make it. There was two other schools that this same inncident happen and they wasn’t allowed to play or either suspended for several games. This should happened to these schools also and I went to Wilson High. As for any player that was even considering NFL or College ball now you have just made the coaches second guess themselves before considering you. Life is about choices! Choose to do well despite of your situation or surrounding.
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Posted by ( silly22 ) on September 01, 2008 at 11:55 am
LET ME START BY SAYING IF YOU WERE NOT THEIR BE QUIET PLEASE, ITS ODVIOUS THAT YOU DONT KNOW WHAT HAPPEN.YOU HAVE NEVER HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT WILSON HAVING BAD SPORTSMANSHIP SO RIGHT THEIR YOU KNOW SOMETHING IS WRONG. I AM A GRADUATE OF WILSON HIGH SCHOOL 2004 AND WILSON HAS NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS LIKE THIS. LAKE CITY HAD A FEW PROBLEMS THAT THEY NEED TO GET STRAIGHT WITH THEM SELVES. THEY ARE AT FAULT FOR STARTING IT. SPITTING IN SOMEONES FACE IS THE HIGHEST UP MOST DISRESPECT AN THEY SHOWED IT THURSDAY.WILSON IS AT FAULT FOR DEFENDING THEMSELVES , WHO DO THAT WOULDNT DEFEND THEMSELVES AFTER SOMEONE SPIT ON THEM. I SAY TO LAKE CITY SHAME ON YOU, YOU SEASON IS GOING TO BE SO HARD FOR YOU.i SAY TO WILSON GOOD LUCK YOU DEFENDED YOURSELVES THURSDAY AND ANY PUNSIHMENT THEY GIVE YOU TAKE IT. WILSON IS A GREAT TEAM ON AND OFF THE FIELD. TO THE FANS WHEN YOU SEE SOMEONE WHO TALKS ABOUT THE SITUATION SET THEM STRAIGHT. WE ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPEN.*** THIS ARTICLE IS A MISPRINT YOU SHOULD GET BOTH SIDES OF A STORY BEFORE PRINTING IT ESPECIALLY WHEN ITS THE WRONG ONE ****
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Posted by ( LCLADY ) on August 31, 2008 at 2:28 am
Well, all the players and anyone else that were involved should not be eligible to play in the playoffs this year. Wilson is just mad that they lost their first home game to a another team. If Lake CIty didn’t beat them, someone else would have and they would have probably done the same thing. Whoever is doing the investigation, make sure you do a good job and get the ones that were involved. Don’t make others suffer because someone wanted to act stupid and did what they did. Get the ones that were involved. And coaches, make sure that each player learns the meaning of respect. It goes a long way…
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Posted by ( phtanner ) on August 30, 2008 at 4:16 pm
There are two cold, hard facts that should control this situation.
First, if these acts occurred outside of this setting, the acts would constitute criminal offenses ranging from simple assault, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, and possibly assault with intent to kill.
Second, the high potential for serious bodily injury was present throughout this situation. It is an unbelievable stroke of luck that no one was critically injured.
In view thereof, there can be only one conclusion to be drawn from these types of criminal acts:
a full suspension of both teams for the rest of the season and probation for next year.
Larry Jackson, don’t you dare look at this type behavior as “unsportsmanlike conduct.” As Superintendent of District One schools, you owe the parents, teachers, coaches, and all support personnel a duty to properly deal with this matter.
This type criminal behavior may be fine for professional sports, but criminal acts have no place at a public school event.
Deal with it, Larry Jackson!
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Posted by ( Danny Bravo ) on August 30, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Thugs! Plain and simple! Is this really what prep athletics is supposed to be about? Grown men fighting and displaying this type of behavior. Both teams are at fault and both programs should be suspended for the rest of the year. There is no place for this in high school sports. If the S.C. High School League doesn’t take strong and swift action in this matter then they are as spineless as a squid. Wilson HS consistently has displayed a win-at-all-costs mentality and Lake City HS has been renowned for its lack of discipline. For this incident to occur is totally inexcusable and the folks in charge (Principals, Administrators, and Coaches) should be held accountable and punished as well as the players that took part in this melee. WHS and LCHS have given Florence County a severe black eye and I hope the community roasts these schools for embarrassing its citizens.
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Posted by ( Ugalie7 ) on August 30, 2008 at 10:43 am
The real crime here is not that the players got into a fight, but the manner the comments were written. Respect is earned, but the lack thereof is never reason for violence. Kids will be kids, but those who previously commented on the game are guilty of bad grammar.
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Posted by ( love the game ) on August 29, 2008 at 11:20 pm
look I was there and I really do think that the game was a hard fought game for both teams. I was very surprised to see what was going on down on the field. It’s pretty bad when thing’s like this happen two good school’s so I hope and pray that when the high school commity gets through that the only ones to suffer is the kids who started this first.. and if you can’t take defeat then you better stop playing sport’s are breathing cause as long as you live you are going to have time’s in your life to where you will have let down’s ... but I will promise you one thing life will go on
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