Melee At McGillicuddy Stadium Spoils Harrison Victory

A brawl between the Sleepy Hollow and Harrison football teams during Sunday afternoon's game had players running onto the field, equipment being used as weapons and officials calling in outside help to get the situation under control.

Several players ended up on the ground being stomped on and beaten while other athletes appeared to be using their helmets and cleats as weapons. The game officials, campus security and the police were all on the field at one point trying to break up the fighting.

The battle was ignited early in the fourth quarter, with Sleepy Hollow losing big, when Sleepy Hollow tailback L.J. Garrant took the ball on a handoff to the right on a critical fourth and three situation. The play was stopped in the backfield by Harrison senior defensive back James Tirella, who broke through to the backfield and tackled Garrant for a loss.

As Tirella made the tackle it appeared as if he may have said or done something to Garrant that angered the Sleepy Hollow junior, as Tirella was getting up Garrant used his cleats to kick the Harrison player off of him.

The two players immediately started fighting near the Sleepy Hollow bench. This caused the Sleepy Hollow coaches on the sideline and press box to leave the bench to try to stop the fight. But when the coaches ran on the field, some of the Horsemen fallowed—resulting in mayhem on the football field.

Harrison coaches Art Troilo Jr. and Steve Williams both also ran onto the field while the other Harrison coaches attempted, unsuccessfully, to keep all their players on the sideline.

The fighting went on for several minutes and eventually resulted in ejections for two players from each team. While the exact actions underneath the pile are not yet clear, both coaches were upset with how the situation was handled.

"It was probably the worst thing that I had ever seen in my life, I am very disappointed," said Steve Borys, Sleepy Hollow head coach. "That's disgraceful, that's not how we teach them. It's a football game—it's not a barroom brawl—and anybody who left the bench is a disgrace and I am going to deal with them and they are going to be disciplined or off of the team totally. It is not something that we encourage."

"It's terrible, it is just a terrible situation," said Art Troilo Jr., Harrison head coach. "That stuff can't happen, it just puts a damper on things. You can't do that, you have to be able to walk away from things like this before it becomes a problem."

The two ejected Harrison players were Duke Alvora and Michael Callari. Sleepy Hollow senior defensive back Domingo Gonzalez and senior co-captain John Randazzo were the two ejected from the Horsemen side. According to league rules they will also be suspended for their  team's next game. There may also be actions taken within each school, resulting in players being suspended for the rest of the season.  

"These are the ones the officials said were most involved," said Sleepy Hollow Athletic Director Chuck Scarpulla. "At this point I don't know about further actions."

After the game one of the Sleepy Hollow players claimed a Harrison coach hit him, and some of the Harrison players said the Sleepy Hollow athletes were going after Alvora's surgically repaired knee.

"We all have each other's back," said one of Harrison's captains Tanner Knox. "I think that the seniors should have been smart enough to know that you could get suspended and we really need everyone for the next few games, we have a big game against Eastchester on Saturday."

Harrison Athletic Director Patricia Seligman said on Tuesday that Alvora and Callari will be suspended for the team's next game on Saturday, adding that although they are still looking into the issue the school has no plans to hand out any additional suspensions at this time.

"The officials made the decision as far as the players who were penalized," she said. "We abide by the decision, we support the decision and we respect the decision the officials made as far as the students that were suspended for unsportsmanlike conduct."

Tirella said he was happy that his team came to his aid during the altercation, even though it might cost them in the long run.

"A football team is a family, if someone starts something with your family then the family is going to retaliate," Tirella said. "I saw my family come in and get my back."

But Seligman was predictably not supportive of the brawl, saying that she doesn't expect these types of issues to happen again in the future.

"This is absolutely not a common occurrence here in Harrison," she said. "I absolutely do not expect it to repeat itself."