Southeastern suspends varsity football season following 'unprincipled behavior'
Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School has paused its varsity football season after some players and members of the coaching staff displayed "unprincipled behavior" during Friday's varsity game against Upper Cape Tech, according to a press release from superintendent Luis Lopes.
Lopes said the team "exhibited poor sportsmanship," taunted and shouted obscenities at the opponent, all of which caused multiple penalties to be called during the game. The actions came from both players and coaches. Southeastern won the game, 27-0.
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"The behavior of students and coaching staff after the game was not at all consistent with the values of our school community," Lopes said.
“This behavior is unacceptable, disappointing and goes against our core values."
The Hawks will forfeit Friday's game against Shawsheen Valley Tech. A decision has not been made about a Thanksgiving Day game scheduled against West Bridgewater.
Dominique Williams is in his fourth year as the team's head coach. He's a Brockton High graduate and played college football at Boston College.
“The lack of discipline and respect for an opponent shown on Friday night is not characteristic of Southeastern’s athletic program, and we extend our sincere apologies to the members and coaching staff of the Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical High School football team and those in attendance," Lopes said.
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Lopes said Southeastern's athletic director, Dan Tripp, has been in touch with administrators at Upper Cape since the incident occurred.
“We will be thoroughly reviewing the events that transpired on Friday night," Lopes said.
"We will ensure that such unacceptable behavior is not repeated in the future. We will also meet with all coaches and athletes to ensure that the basic tenets of sportsmanship are known and followed by all during the upcoming season.”
This suspension shortens what was already an abbreviated season for the Hawks. Southeastern was initially scheduled to play at Upper Cape on Sept. 17, but the Rams were forced to cancel the game due COVID-19 concerns the day of the game.
Southeastern was scheduled to play South Shore Tech on Oct. 28, but the game was cancelled due to weather. No makeup was rescheduled.
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If the Hawks do cancel the Thanksgiving game against WB, it will be another blow to the Wildcats season. The Wildcats, who were state semifinalists in 2018 and finalists in 2019, finished 6-1 during the regular season but still did not qualify for the postseason under the new power ratings system.
This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Southeastern Regional puts varsity football season on pause
