Colleges Asking Questions After Gridiron Fight : Violence: A scuffle at a football game grew into a melee that involved more than 200 people. Pierce and L.A. Harbor officials want to know why it escalated.

No one is sure how the initial fight broke out after the Pierce College football team stomped L.A. Harbor and no one really cares, participants said--after all, boys will be boys.

But what officials on both sides wanted to know Sunday was why a scuffle and a few nasty remarks were allowed to escalate into a full-fledged melee with more than 200 participants.

The series of fights Saturday began as the two teams were leaving the field after the Pierce College Brahmas defeated the Los Angeles Harbor College Seahawks, 23-0, on the Seahawks’ home turf in Wilmington. Three coaches from Pierce were struck, as were players from both teams and participants from the crowd.

Pierce and L.A. Harbor College officials said they would review the matter, to see who--if anyone--should be disciplined, and to determine how to prevent future outbreaks of violence at games.

An angry Pierce College football coach, Bill Norton, accused the L.A. Harbor College campus police of being “extremely lackadaisical” and waiting too long to separate the players.

“Why didn’t the security get there faster, and why didn’t they do anything once they got there?” Norton asked.

“They have to take a serious look at what was not done,” Norton said, still smarting from unwelcome publicity over the incident and a punch he received from an L.A. Harbor player. “The fight never should have escalated, or lasted nearly that long.”

Pierce co-offensive line coach Pat Swift was knocked unconscious and suffered serious head injuries when an L.A. Harbor player allegedly grabbed a crutch and struck him over the head with it. Swift remained hospitalized Sunday, and his condition was upgraded from serious to stable. Harbor player Dion Mills, 19, of Carson turned himself in to police Saturday evening at Harbor Division station, and was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon before posting $35,000 bail.

Norton said Swift was rushing to the aid of a player being chased by nine L.A. Harbor players and fans when he was struck.

Another Pierce assistant coach, Phil Wijmer, was treated at a local hospital for a chest bruise and other minor injuries. He decided against staying in the hospital overnight for observation, even after suffering an apparent angina attack on the field when entering the fray to help another player, Norton said.

None of the coaches would comment on specific disciplinary actions being considered against players, saying they needed more information. At one point, there were several fights going at once as the players headed to their adjacent locker rooms near the field. Then, when things appeared to be settling down, some Pierce players ran out of their locker room to fight L.A. Harbor players and fans they believed had struck Swift, Norton and some of their teammates.

Don Weems, L.A. Harbor head football coach, said Mills faces disciplinary action by the police, the college and the football program. But he said he didn’t think his players or the team’s fans were totally at fault.

“I don’t think anybody was to blame,” Weems said. “The unfortunate thing was that somebody got hurt.”

Weems said there were seven fights at college football games nationwide Saturday, including a bench-clearing brawl between the Miami Hurricanes and the Colorado Buffalos. Emotions run high at college games and tempers flare, Weems said.

“We’re going to try to take a hard look at what happened, sort it out and learn from it,” he said. “We need to look at how the teams are entering and leaving the field, and whether there is enough security there.”

Weems declined comment on Norton’s criticisms of campus police, who are sworn officers employed by the Los Angeles Community College District.

Eugene Gaines, L.A. Harbor security officer, said only two campus officers were deployed at the game, and that two other campus officers also happened to be on the scene. They all responded immediately, he said, and called for about 50 backup officers from the Los Angeles Police Department, including air support.

“We had 200 people fighting and pushing, swinging helmets and things,” he said. “We only had four officers, when we needed 50 to control the whole situation. We did a helluva job under the circumstances.”

In future games, Gaines said, police will ask referees to keep the home team on the field until the entire visiting team is in their locker room. But no discussions are under way to add more police, he said.

Pierce coach Norton and Athletic Director Marian McWilliams agreed that separating the teams after play might be one way of improving security.

“We will make every effort to make sure nothing like this happens again in the future,” McWilliams said. “Maybe the colleges, all of them, need to tighten controls. We need to do something.”

Already, the two opposing coaches have conferred, and McWilliams has reported the incident to the commissioner of the Western States Conference. She said the conference will discuss the issue at its next meeting, scheduled for Oct. 6.

On Sunday, Swift, the injured coach, declined comment through a hospital spokeswoman. “Maybe he just doesn’t want to think about it,” said Beth Martinez, nursing supervisor at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. “It’s not fun to be hit over the head, and he probably just wants to recuperate in privacy.”