A New Jersey high school rivalry turned violent at a football game last Saturday when students from one school mobbed a teen from the other and pummeled him, video shows.
Brick Township's two high schools, Brick Township High (also known as Old Brick) and Brick Memorial High, were facing off at an afternoon football game when the fight broke out, according to a teen who posted video of the incident on Twitter.
Video shared with News 4 shows a shirtless teen trying to climb a railing up to a set of bleachers in apparently hostile territory: he's pulled off by other teens below the stands and punched repeatedly.
The eight-second clip doesn't show what led to the fight or what happened after the brawl at Brick's Keller Memorial Stadium.
According to the Brick Memorial student who posted the video to Twitter, Tyler Geoffroy, Brick team supporters went to the visitors' side of the field at halftime, grabbed a Brick Memorial flag and took it back to the Brick stands.
When a Brick Memorial student went to get their "sacred" warlord flag back, he was beaten, according to Geoffroy.
"He went to get the flags, then grabbed at it, trying to rip it out of the Old Brick kid's hand, and then people started throwing their fist at him," Geoffroy told News 4 in a message.
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But a student who was at the game and witnessed the fight told News 4 in an email that the Brick Memorial student instigated.
"From my point of view in the front row, the Memorial student began to climb up the first row of bleachers, where our student with the flag was standing, and without reaching for the flag or even attempting to ask for it back, tackled our student off the first or second row of the bleachers," said Nick Olivio, a senior at Brick Township High. "The student from Brick Memorial came into our student section and initiated a fight."
Olivio said Brick Memorial students were also not supposed to be on their side of the field -- the "heated rivalry" between the two schools dates back 30 years, according to Olivio, and parameters had been set up to prevent fights like that.
Geoffroy claims a teacher from Brick Memorial had to break up the fight after running across the field to the other side. He questioned why supervisors and authorities on the Brick side didn't step up and intervene -- although it's not clear from the video who actually attempted to break up the brawl.
Brick Township's schools acting superintendent Dennis Filippone told Patch.com he has meetings scheduled with Brick Police Chief James Riccio and with the principals of both schools to review the video and discuss discipline for several students.
In the meantime, Riccio told News 4 Tuesday that there will be even more security at future football games for both high schools: backpacks and other bags will be checked, and water bottles will not be allowed inside the stadium because underage drinking has fueled the existing tension.
"What we've been having an issue with is students coming there intoxicated that sometimes results in fights," he said. "The teachers will be searching bags prior to them entering, trying to deter them from being able to drink while on the property."
A student who wanted to remain anonymous told News 4 that many attendees drink before games, "a lot."
"It's usually like a vodka, stuff you can get easily from your parents and stuff like that," the student said.
Riccio says police will have no tolerance going forward, and any future fights will result in arrest.
Patch.com reports the rivalry between the schools has been an ongoing issue, and the game has been held on Saturday afternoon for years before of past incidents. Police officers were also at the game to provide extra security.
