St. Genevieve Coach, Player Suspended for Role in Brawl

St. Genevieve High football Coach Mark Lovett sat down to watch a videotape Wednesday afternoon, and he did not like what he saw. Lovett, in fact, issued a scathing review, suspending a player and an assistant coach for their part in a brawl during Friday’s loss to Chaminade.

Lovett, a first-year coach, suspended a player for two games and an assistant for one game in connection with a sideline-clearing fight that took place in Chaminade’s 45-6 San Fernando Valley League victory.

A second player and another assistant were reprimanded by Lovett, who issued word of the punishment through a statement released by the St. Genevieve athletic department. None of players or coaches involved were identified.

With Chaminade leading, 45-0, a fight erupted after Chaminade’s Felix Goodson was leveled by Roel Navarro, who was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct. Goodson, who waved for a fair catch as one of the deep men on the punt-return team, allowed the ball to land untouched several yards away but was decked nonetheless, according to Chaminade Coach Rich Lawson.

In the statement, Lovett said that he was “accepting responsibility for the behavior of my assistant coaches and my players only.” Lovett did not return phone calls Wednesday.

No Chaminade players have been disciplined in connection with the fight, Lawson said, nor have any been suspended from school.

Lawson, who provided Lovett with the videotape that was used to view the fight, said he was glad to see that the matter has been settled, but he had mixed feelings about the suspensions.

“I’m certainly not gratified that a kid will miss a couple of football games,” Lawson said. “It’s just unfortunate that emotions got to the point where they did.”