5 Students, Rival Coach Suspended Over Melee
Five Hawthorne High School football players and a rival coach from Inglewood High School have been suspended by school officials for their involvement in a melee that broke out after a sophomore junior varsity game last week.
Officials at each of the two high schools blamed the other for starting the fracas after last Thursday’s 25-0 Hawthorne victory in Inglewood.
As the two teams brawled, coaches exchanged blows and some students wielded baseball bats and knives, witnesses said. A Hawthorne cheerleader and an Inglewood fan were treated for minor injuries.
Inglewood officials suspended assistant coach Edwin Demby, who is not a teacher in the district, for allegedly helping to incite the brawl and recommended Monday that the school board dismiss him from the part-time job. Hawthorne suspended five players for one game for their involvement.
Police are investigating the incident.
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