KENMORE, N.Y. — Kenmore East and Cheektowaga schools have made the decision that both of their varsity football teams will forfeit their games this weekend.
It was during last Friday's game between the two teams that referees ended the game early during the fourth quarter due to the behavior of some players on the field.
Following the incident, both school districts investigated the situation and decided that both of their upcoming games on September 29 would be forfeited.
Kenmore East principal Trevor Brown said in an email to parents: "The Superintendent and I have been proud of how the members of our Kenmore East Football Team have played and grown as a community, but our district maintains the highest expectations for conduct from all student-athletes. The decision by players to leave the bench cannot be tolerated."
Brown also mentioned in the email, "We are grateful for how the spectators, monitors, and football staff responded, ensuring that the situation was immediately brought under control."
The two school districts involved never use the word fight to describe what happened. Both districts declined on-camera interviews on Tuesday, but both sent nearly identical statements echoing what was in the letter to parents minus the part about the players leaving the bench.
The districts say after an investigation, they made the joint decision to have both teams forfeit their next games and agree that last Friday's "behavior will never be tolerated."
"In a case like this where you've got teams who clearly did the wrong thing, they left the bench, you know, violated the game rules, you can see things like that spiral terribly out of control and, you know, could really impact student safety or public safety, so it's really important, I think, for school superintendents to make sure that we send a clear, an unequivocal message, that when you make a mistake, we need to learn from it, and move on from it, and be better for it, " said Supt. Michael Cornell.
Superintendent Michael Cornell is the President of the Erie-Niagara School Superintendents Association and says a lot goes into making a decision like this.
"The young people made a mistake, and kids who are 14, 15, 16, 17 years old are going to make mistakes, and one of our jobs in school is to help these young people learn from that mistake," said Supt. Michael Cornell.