7 arrested after fight breaks out near Archbishop Williams high school football game

WCVB
·2 min read
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BOSTON – Seven people are facing charges in connection with fighting at a Boston playground near a high school football game involving Archbishop Williams High School.

Cathedral High School was hosting  the Braintree Catholic school at Carter Playground on Columbus Avenue in the South End on Friday night when a fight broke out near a tennis court next to the field during the third quarter. The fight  then spilled out into the street.

Seven people are facing charges in connection with fighting at a Boston playground near an Archbishop Williams High School football game.
Seven people are facing charges in connection with fighting at a Boston playground near an Archbishop Williams High School football game.

"We heard a bunch of commotion and people were running all over the streets, then just a bunch of cops lining up out here," said Ryan Murphy, who lives across the street from the Carter Playground's athletic complex.

Boston police arrested six juveniles and one adult, none of whom were affiliated with either school, school administrators said.

"It was a very, very frightening situation that could have been a lot worse," said Archbishop Williams President Dennis Duggan.

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Cathedral High President Dan Carmody said, "We happened to be at a venue where members outside of our community engaged in really reckless behavior."

Carmody and Duggan said they are looking into ways to prevent such an incident from happening again, including only allowing school community members to attend games.

"We've talked about those things before and I'm sure that this incident will hasten those discussions again," Duggan said.

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But since the football field at Carter Playground is part of an athletic complex owned by Boston and Northeastern University, there might be  problems with any plan to exclude people who are not members of the school community.

"We certainly have to reconsider having Friday night football games," Carmody said. "Our fans and our team have been awesome, but it's sad for them to be in that environment."

The Cathedral High School football team also includes student-athletes from Matignon High School in Cambridge and Cristo Rey High School in Dorchester as part of a co-op program.

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: 7 arrested after fight near Archbishop Williams football game