Harbor Had Its Season Marred Because of Brawl : Seahawks: School was blamed for fight with Pierce, but players say melee was not entirely their fault.

Harbor College closed the season in grand fashion with a 30-0 homecoming victory over Ventura on Nov. 20.

The Seahawks equaled a season-high point total and ended a three-game losing streak to finish 4-6 and 1-3 in Western State Conference Northern Division play.

But for all intents, the Harbor football season came to an end during the second week of the season after a fight erupted between players, fans and coaches following a 23-0 loss to Pierce Sept. 25.

Harbor officials suspended the program for a week and the Seahawks forfeited their Oct. 2 game against West L.A. Four players were also suspended indefinitely.

The Western State Conference placed Harbor on probation for the remainder of the season and disqualified the team from postseason competition in 1993.

Pierce, which finished 5-5 and 2-3 in Southern Division play, received no sanctions.

“The fight was the downfall of the season,” Harbor running back Shayzar Hawkins said. “Everybody was shooting for a bowl game. That’s what kept it exciting. But after the fight, there were a lot of mixed

emotions. A couple of players quit. We had a lot of weaknesses.”

Offense was one of them.

The Seahawks had the conference’s top-rated defense, but ranked 11th among 12 teams in offense, averaging 205.6 yards a game. During a four-game stretch, the Harbor offense failed to score a touchdown.

Hawkins, who led Harbor in rushing with 562 yards in 108 carries, transferred from Oregon Stateless than a week before Harbor’s first game. But the former Banning High standout said he will transfer to a four-year university for the 1994 season.

Sophomores Gabe Sadi and Rino Marconi alternated at quarterback for Harbor. A converted linebacker, Sadi completed 47 of 101 yards for 518 yards and nine touchdowns. Marconi, a transfer from Cal State Northridge, was 32 of 77 for 335 yards and two touchdowns.

“It was a long and frustrating season,” Marconi said. “It didn’t matter if we won or we lost, we had nothing to play for. We weren’t going anywhere.”

It could have been worse.

At one point, Harbor Athletic Administrator Charles Bossler said the school considered dropping the program after the brawl.

Western State Conference Commissioner Aviva Kamin had initially placed Harbor on probation and eliminated the Seahawks from postseason competition for the 1993 and ’94 seasons. The penalties were later reduced to one year by a conference appeals board.

Harbor Coach Don Weems tried to steer clear of the lengthy bureaucratic process.

“I’m a football coach, not an administrator,” Weems said. “The incident happened and I have to live with the decision no matter what it is.”

The Sept. 25 fight erupted near the teams’ locker rooms shortly after the game in Wilmington.

Harbor wide receiver Dion Mills, 19, was charged with one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly hitting Pierce offensive line coach Pat Swift on the head with an aluminum crutch. He is free on $35,000 bail and is awaiting arraignment in San Pedro Municipal Court.

Pierce Coach Bill Norton suffered cuts and bruises. Pierce running backs coach Phil Wijmer suffered a chest bruise when he was struck by a Los Angeles Police Department officer with a baton, according to Harbor assistant Gene Miranda.

Seahawk linebacker Tyrone Coleman said he was struck by Norton on the left side of his neck during the melee. There were several witnesses, including a LAPD traffic officer, and a police report was taken. No charges, however, have been filed.

Coleman, who missed the final five games because of a knee injury, said he is considering a lawsuit against Norton. Coleman said he was walking toward the parking lot with several Harbor players with his helmet and shoulder pads in hand when he was hit by Norton.

“He should have been arrested and he’s still walking free,” Coleman said about Norton. “A court would find him totally guilty. The only reason we’re the bad guys is because the Pierce coach got hurt. I could have been hurt. If something happened to me, it be a totally different story. I’ve been stressing out about the whole thing.”

Norton said he was trying to protect his players and coaches when he charged Coleman. However, Harbor defensive back DuShaun Brumfield and Miranda also support Coleman’s story.

“Norton threw his clipboard down and called Tyrone a piece of . . . ,” Brumfield said. “I don’t think Tyrone knew he was coming or he would have been ready to level him.”

Over the past two seasons, Norton, who previously coached at Bishop Montgomery High, had his share of differences among other conference coaches and his own staff.

He fired assistant Chris Setterberg and yanked the linebackers coach’s headphones off during the first half of a game against West L.A on Nov. 6.

At last season’s Harbor-Pierce game, Norton had a confrontation with West L.A. Coach Rob Hager and his staff. Hager said Norton sent an assistant to order Hager and his coaches off the sideline. Norton said one of his assistants heatedly told Hager and his staff to leave, but only after making the request politely with no results.

“(Norton) really drags our coaching profession down and he’s no different than a common thug,” Hager said. “The demeanor of the Pierce coaching staff is really a slap in the face to respectable programs.”

Norton said his players did not instigate the Sept. 25 fight. But Harbor players claim taunting from Pierce players was the cause. Seahawk players said the brawl started when a Brahma player swung a helmet at a Harbor player.

“It takes two to fight, and the only name we heard is ours,” Harbor running back Damin Hurst said. “Punishment should go both ways. They got off scot-free. We couldn’t understand when, deep down, we knew who started it.”

Weems wants to drop the incident and move on to 1994. He does not anticipate any impact on recruiting or the transfer of freshmen players because of the fight.

Lost in the turmoil, Weems said, is the fact that Harbor posted the best record among South Bay community colleges.

“Our goals were changed after the incident and we tried to emphasize getting scholarships for our sophomores,” Weems said. “We are the top dogs in our area and we’re happy about that. We’re looking forward to using it as a tool to our benefit.”