Duarte-Gladstone fallout

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Duarte Coach Wardell Crutchfield’s resignation and the one-game suspensions to 15, possibly 16 players from both schools are the results of an ugly on-the-field fight that forced referees to end Friday’s game between Duarte and Gladstone with 3:28 left. Duarte won the game 34-3, but it came out the biggest loser.

Duarte Principal Bill Martinez confirmed that Cruthfield has resigned his position, which was first reported by the SGVT on its blog. Principals from both schools and an official from the Southern Section office met earlier today to review the game film and determine which players would be suspended.

‘We looked at film today and saw players that left the sidelines who shouldn’t have left the sidelines,’ Martinez said. Those are the players that will be suspended. ‘For me, I was really disappointed in the whole situation. We are playing at home, good crowd and that happened.’

Eight players from Gladstone are suspended and seven, possibly eight, from Duarte will also be suspended for their next game. For Gladstone (1-4, 0-1) it’s this Friday against Azusa at Citrus College. Duarte (4-1, 1-0) is idle this week, but its suspended players will miss the game against Azusa on Oct. 12.

It’s those suspensions that prompted Crutchfield’s decision.

‘He doesn’t feel the decision was fair, even though we looked at the film,’ Martinez said.

Martinez said he never asked Crutchfield to resign and he has not made a decision as to who will replace him. ‘I need to discuss it with some of our assistant coaches and see if anyone wants to step up,’ he said.

Gladstone Athletic Director Chuck Shore said his coaches, none of which resigned, simply want to put the situation behind them.

‘They just want to move one,’ Shore said. ‘It’s just a disappointing thing and we are going to work hard to prevent it. Sometimes things don’t always go as you plan. Reactions aren’t as you predict and emotions aren’t as you predict.’

The groundwork for the fight occurred when Duarte, already leading, 34-3, attempted a two-point conversion instead of a one-point kick with 6:13 left to play. After that, Gladstone Coach Albert Sanchez asked game officials for a running clock.

Gladstone’s drive was stopped and it was forced to punt. Duarte returner Chris Harris, who rushed for 215 yards and three touchdowns, was hit late while out of bounds, said Martinez, and that’s when the benches emptied.

Kathleen Miller, director of communications for the Azusa Unified School District, which Gladstone belongs to, released the following statement:

‘The principals and assistant principals of Gladstone and Duarte highs met today and agreed that players that left the bench would be suspended for one game. Since this is a student disciplinary action, no further details would be discussed by either team. CIF officials were also part of the decision-making process. Our main concern is the safety of our players. This type of behavior is unacceptable and Gladstone High will be stressing the importance of good sportsmanship to all our players.’

Both Martinez and Shore said they had never before been a part of an incident that reached such levels.

‘It’s certainly something we want to work hard to prevent,’ Shore said.

This should serve as a reminder to teams that they should not run up scores to embarrass their opponents and for players to keep their cool under all circumstances ... but it won’t.

Fights like this are too common in high school sports. That’s the real unfortunate part of it all.

- Jaime Cardenas