Manatee school district officials mull disciplinary action after Braden River, North Port football teams fight

BRADENTON -- Manatee County School District officials are still reviewing information about a post-game brawl that broke out on Friday after the Braden River High School and North Port High School football game before handing down any discipline to players.

Jason Montgomery, the district's athletics director, said any disciplinary action for Braden High players probably wouldn't be decided upon until Tuesday at the earliest. Manatee district officials are still working with their Sarasota counterparts to review video footage of the incident.

"It was obvious it was a

fight. So we're kind of trying to work out how we got to the point where that happened, where the breakdowns were and all those types of things," Montgomery said. "Unfortunately, they're the ones with the video of it. So that's the next step is they've been reviewing it on their end, and we're hoping to be able to see it, too, so we can kind of get a better picture of what happened."

Braden River won a blowout game on Friday night at North Port to stay undefeated for the season. Braden River had built a four-touchdown lead by halftime and won the game, 42-7. The fight broke out after the game in the locker room area at North Port's field.

Sarasota County schools spokesman Scott Ferguson said that district is also investigating the issue, and the video of the brawl would not be part of public record because of the ongoing investigation. In addition to working with the Florida High School Athletic Association and the Manatee County school district, Ferguson said the district was working with the North Port Police Department.

The police department is in the process of interviewing coaches and players and looking into possible charges, North Port public information office Josh Taylor said. The department had the two school resource officers on scene for the game, Taylor said.

There were no reports filed just before 4 p.m. Monday, Taylor said.

Montgomery called the situation "unfortunate" and said he had also already reached out to the FHSAA.

"It obviously falls under that big umbrella of unsportsmanlike conduct, and usually what (the FHSAA) does is they'll let the county deal with it first," Montgomery said. "And then based on what actions and how that aligns with what they're thinking, they go from there."

A call to the FHSAA by the Bradenton Herald was not immediately returned Monday.

North Port has a home game scheduled for Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Bayshore High School. Braden River football has a bye week this week, and is slated to play Venice on Oct. 16 at home.

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

This story was originally published October 5, 2015 at 11:54 PM with the headline "Manatee school district officials mull disciplinary action after Braden River, North Port football teams fight ."