DES MOINES, Iowa – A western Iowa school district is apologizing for what it called unsportsmanlike behavior following a football game against Des Moines Hoover High School last Friday.
Hoover’s football coach Theo Evans said after the game at Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson, some of the fans attempted to start fights and taunted Hoover players with racial slurs.
The PA announcer tried to get the crowd off the field after Jefferson won the game against Hoover, but it didn’t work. He can be overheard yelling at the students and saying “Have some class,” and “students leave the field now.”
Evans said, “Things I heard were ‘kill yourself, hang yourself.’ Definitely the ‘N’ word usage all over the place.”
Evans also said there was a group of about 60 students waiting around the Hoover bus that was very aggressive and trying to get reactions from his players.
Hoover’s principal Qynne Kelly wrote to Jefferson’s principal Michael Naughten to let him know she had asked the Iowa High School Athletics Association to look into the matter
On Tuesday, Kelly and Naughten spoke directly about the incident. A spokesperson for the Council Bluffs Community School District said the conversation was positive.
A statement from the district contains a slightly different narrative to the incident than Evans described, but it also includes an apology.
“Our Thomas Jefferson student section was thrilled to celebrate the homecoming win of the football team and rushed the field before the Hoover football team had exited to the locker room.
Council Bluffs Community School District
We have addressed the unsportsmanlike behavior of three students who were involved in an exchange with the Hoover football players. Our Thomas Jefferson High School administration has reached out to Hoover High School administration to apologize for the post-game exchange.”
