Investigations ongoing into Braden River, North Port football fight

BRADENTON -- A fight that broke out Friday between members of the Braden River High School and North Port High School football teams is still under investigation.

Manatee County officials are examining the information, said Manatee County School District athletics director Jason Montgomery.

Montgomery said about 10 students from both teams were probably involved in a brawl lasting about 90 seconds, according to officials.

"It was nowhere near the scope initially reported," he said.

Montgomery said he expected to know the names of the players involved Wednesday morning and would determine their punishment. The brawl prompted district officials to look at postgame policies and procedures. Each school in the county bases its policies on how stadiums

and fields are set up.

Part of the issue, Montgomery said, was how close locker rooms are at North Port.

"It all depends on the facilities," he said. "At several of our schools, the locker rooms are nowhere near each other."

Braden River football has a bye week this week. The team will play Venice at home Oct. 16. The team did not practice Monday and practice was closed to the media Tuesday. Practice will be closed until the investigation is over, according to a school official.

Braden River head coach Curt Bradley declined to comment.

Similar efforts are underway in Sarasota County, and the investigation is expected to go into next week, spokesman Scott Ferguson said.

Students involved in the fight should be identified before North Port plays Bayshore High School at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

"Once that's determined, those players will not be playing," he said.

Charges against some of the students involved still are possible. Josh Taylor, public information officer for the North Port Police Department, said officers are interviewing administrators and officials from both high schools and continuing to gather information.

The fight broke out as players were headed to the locker rooms after the game Braden River won, 42-7. The fight lasted about a minute or so, Taylor said. Officers on duty, helping with crowd control when the fight broke out, rushed over to help break it up, Taylor said.

Once the teams were separated in their locker rooms, the North Port players were not allowed to leave until Braden River left, Taylor said.

Video cameras at North Port did catch some of the fight, Taylor said. The video is in the school board's possession and the police department has yet to get a copy of it.

The video is part of an ongoing investigation and not subject to public record, Taylor said.

It's typical for both school resource officers to attend football games. Taylor said sometimes the school will request up to four officers when expecting a heated rivalry game. The Braden River game wasn't considered to be that type of game, Taylor said.

"This wasn't something that was expected to be a heated type of deal," he said. Taylor said he expects four to six officers at Friday's game.

Florida High School Athletic Association spokesman Corey Sobers said they won't make a determination about any disciplinary action for a few days. Once the district decides on discipline, it will submit a report to the state, Montgomery said.

He said officials were carefully going over all the statements before deciding on punishment, which could include suspension from the football team and possibly from school.

"That's all part of what we're working through," Montgomery said.

Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter @MeghinDelaney.

This story was originally published October 6, 2015 at 11:44 PM with the headline "Investigations ongoing into Braden River, North Port football fight ."