Four Nature Coast players expected to face criminal charges

Read the St. Petersburg Times story in Friday's paper by clicking here right now.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office criminal investigation related to last Friday's Nature Coast-Groveland South Lake brawl is ongoing, but four Nature Coast players are expected to be charged as early as Friday, Cpl. James Vachon said. Charges could range from misdemeanor simple battery up to felony battery, but the Sheriff’s Office would give those players an opportunity to refute the charges.

No coaches are expected to be charged, but Vachon said his office is aware of allegations against Nature Coast coach Jamie Joyner. (In a report sent to the FHSAA by game officials, one of them identified Joyner and an unnamed Nature Coast player “throwing punches.” Joyner denied throwing a punch, and Nature Coast has identified the player as Brad Lucier.) No one from South Lake has been charged because no criminal complaints have been received.

In the Sheriff Office’s preliminary report, three South Lake players and coach Walter Banks were assaulted after a fuse blew during the game and the lights went out. Banks and one of his players were hit in the head by helmets and another player was jumped and kicked in the ribs, the report said. Two of those kids were taken to South Lake Hospital. The report said it was too dark to identify any suspects.

-- IZZY GOULD
izzygould@me.com

Comments

go SPRINGSTEADDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

6:31 i don't envy you. i don't hate you. i don't even pity you. i laugh at you. i'm laughing right now. this self righteous attitude displayed by the nct fans is hysterical. this whole mess would go away if nct would display some, not even a lot of, remorse and accept some responsiblity for the questionable history of its athletics programs. if big head joyner and his crew would be accountable people would forgive, forget and chalk it up to "boys will be boys" "they're football players and they get caught up in the heat of the moment" but that won't happen b/c nct does nothing wrong. J.J. consider yourself challenged to do the right thing for your program and quite possibly your career.

[Who? Who? Who?]

- Envy you?
In Jail? Nope.

- "who actually had a playoff game"
- "who won their district"
- "who won the County Championship"
Who- Who- Who- you sound like an owl. "HAD" is the operative word.

- "celebrate the grief of these young men"
you mean the young men that were put in the hospital from the criminal assaults?

- "It just shows what kind of person you are."
No it shows what kind of low life scum you are defending.

I love how you envy us you coward. Just remember who actually had a playoff game at one point. And who won their district. And who won the County Championship. You can't take that away from our Seniors. So go ahead and celebrate the grief of these young men.. It just shows what kind of person you are.

9:58 like i said skuuuuuurt put the brakes on kid. screeching halt. your season/playoff run is over. i guess i do know what i am talking about; ask the fhsaa and they will tell you. this is a great day :)

[steve]

just typical when a team with boyz from da hood are coached by white cracker a-holes...no shocker here...actually sums up what that part of black/white trash florida is all about...

be silent youngster; you cared enough to respond. the fact remains that you have been in 2 fights in two years. your athletics program is on probation. you are not innocent. you are not victims and the time for worshiping yourselves may possibly come to a screeching halt very soon...and it would be fitting.

9:34/9:48..same person. Stop posting - noone cares because you have no idea what you are talking about. Thanks.

thank you 8:50 that post makes good sense. nct coaches, parents, players admin., and student body step up and be accountable. 2 years and 2 fights.
you are not innocent in this matter. you certainly are not victims. perhaps you did not start the melee but you sure did retaliate-guilty. no playoffs and that should just be the start

4:02 stop your whining. what is wrong is getting into two fights in two years in two separate counties and not being willing to accept any accountability for the actions of your team/family but rather acting like a little kid and saying it's not my fault they started it. you sound foolish.

[Massive Conspiracy Uncovered!]

NCT Mom, I think that this weekend a lot of people are wishing they had handled things better.

Your last post is confusing. You mentioned the "mysterious" power outage and then you complain that the ambulance crew and the fire department did not turn on the spot lights on their trucks.

Surely you are not saying that the ambulance crew and the fire department where part of a coordinated plan to turn off the lights and keep the stadium in the dark right?

Personally, I don't care about the stadium lights, the ambulance crew or the fire truck. I'm not even focused on specifically on South Lake or NCT.

What I do care about is why is NO ONE angry about the people that where throwing punches and maybe helmets?

People on BOTH TEAMS were injured. A few ended up in the hospital. Why isn't ANYONE talking about that?

Why isn't there ONE post here from a player or parent apologizing for this behavior or at least promising to expose the truth whatever it may be?

All we have are a bunch of people making excuses for for criminals.

[NCT Football Mom]

One thing I've been curious about from the beginning is, why wern't the spot lights on th fire truck and ambulance that were parked on the field that night turned on the field after the lights mysteriously went out. I think that would have cleared things up a bit on a lot of levels.

AGAIN! Who was the SP Times reporter? What did he see?

If I am a player, and I run accross the field to the other team's sideline, then I am in the wrong. If when I get there I get beat up, what on earth was I doing there?

[Football Dad]

4:46 Thank you for your thoughtful response. I am not associated in any way with EITHER program or any other school that either of these teams have played this year. I do have sons that play varsity football and I've seen this sort of thing over the years although not to this level.

Sadly, the situation is not isolated to NCT or South Lake. Just a few weeks ago we had several players from another school in our district come to one of our games on their bye week. They were standing behind our sideline and yelling at our players.

They were approached by a cameraman on the sideline and they literally went ON CAMERA gave their names, numbers, positions, and threatened to break the leg of one of our receivers and the arm of our QB.

This is on film and they were actually PROUD to do it! I SAW THE TAPE. At first I thought it was a stupid joke because they seemed to be having a great time doing it.

Our head coach wisely chose not to show the video to the team and quietly called the other team's coach so that he could deal with it.

I think that this type of Thug attitude is a much bigger problem than we know or admit to. I sincerely hope that the facts come out in the South Lake, NCT mess and that the guilty persons are identified and dealt with fairly.

This is a bigger problem than just you guys.
Thank you for your thoughtful reply.

[The Truth is coming out.]

If it helps you sleep at night stick your head in the sand and pretend that nothing happened. It still does not change the fact that people on BOTH sides got hurt. The injuries did not happen from tripping on the field when the lights went out. The injuries were caused from attacks by criminals.

No amount of hiding behind conveniently selective "ink black" visibility inside a football stadium is going to keep the truth from being learned. There are about 60-70 people that were right in the middle of the action and saw the attackers or were attacked. All of them will be talking to the police sooner or later.

It won't take the police too long to sort this all out. No one cares about South Lake or NCT. Thugz from BOTH teams are going to have to explain their actions. That's the way it's supposed to be. They deserve every single thing that's coming to them.

Those of you that pretend that nothing happened and make up a dozen excuses to tell these punks that their actions are OK are a huge part of the problem.

This behavior is not OK and you would not be making excuses if you or your son had been one of the people that ended up in the hospital.

Save your false indignity. No one believes it.

[Yes 643]

That sounds right! Our kids at Nature Coast have been raised to be "Thugs" and they've been just looking for a reason to sabotage their season so that they can be punished for their evil ways. I just love the way this is working out, we'll all be better people now!? NOT - 1st of all, futbol dad, no report anywhere said "cracked skull" and as you should know because you all live to track NCT, there is NO video that can be seen due to the darkness. Wouldn't it be great if there were- the AASHF would have already finalized their report and we wouldn't be here discussing this. And beside, why haven't the Central bloggers commented on 1007 - why did Vonada attempt to leave SHS twice in the last 3 years? I know hernando fans aren't on here, heck they are certainly still in the corner licking all their wounds. Last time I checked, NCT was still standing whether the haters or the AASHF like it!

[The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!]

Lying liars, and the lies they tell. (Aren’t you clever)
Let’s see, everyone at NCT is lying. Yes, yes…you are absolutely right! This is what really happened. We went up to South Lake to play a game that had no meaning to us other than hopefully putting us closer to a 10-0 record. As was our plan, we were winning. And then, out of no where, we decided that it would be fun to entice the SL players to come over to our sidelines and start fighting with us when the lights went out. Because we are “thug life” and this is what we do. And of course everyone knows that NCT knew the lights were going to go out because NCT is evil and we have evil ways of knowing these kind of things. This was our plan all along, you see we wanted to sabotage being able to play in the playoffs and wanted to ruin the chance to have an undefeated season. Now doesn’t this mess make sense now that you know the truth?

Football Dad, Let me first say that yes, it is more than unfortunate that any players were hurt and I would be mad as hell if my son were hurt on the football field and I would absolutely want someone to be held accountable. Believe me, I get it. I see where your coming from. But if the players in question can not positively identify his attacker and you are just speculating or just taking numbers off our roster than that is wrong. I am sure if you had hours and hours of video and pictures to share of a situation that lasted only minutes than arrests would have already been made. If I were a parent of South Lake I would start by making the school accountable for their faulty lighting. Had the lights not gone out I do not believe that we would even be here right now disagreeing. I have heard more than once that this was not the first time your school has had lighting issues, and I am not saying that it is true, but if it is, you as parents have a responsibility to your sons/daughters to find out why this is a problem.

[Wasn't there a SPT reporter there?]

Question. If any/all South Lake player/s stayed on their own sideline, would they/could they have possibly been hurt?

Only if you charged the other side (as it is reported the South Lake Team did) could you have been hurt?

[Not a Perfectly Perfect Person in Perfectville]

NCT Mom you're probably right about most of the facts. Your son may not have participated in the riot but he and his teammates were definitely there and saw a lot of what happened including which people did the assaults. If your imperfect son from Imperfectville didn't do anything wrong then he has nothing to worry about.

I know you would not be making the same excuses for the "hot heads" if your son was one of the people that was taken to the hospital with a cracked skull or broken ribs. You would want to know who hurt him and you would want that person in jail right now!

It's time for both squads to face the music. Even though the lights went out it's perfectly clear that both sides had students and possibly adults acting like criminals. Certainly many if not most of the people on the field were not involved or simply defending themselves from an attack. They have not committed a crime.

There are tons of witnesses and hours and hours of video to look at. There is no question that the bad guys are going to be found out and that they are going to jail. The only question is which ones are going to start talking to the police first to get a better deal.

Mom, be happy and that no one was killed or permanently injured. Anyone that was part of the riot and not defending himself needs to go to jail and learn his lesson now before he kills someone the next time something happens that he doesn't like.

I am not a "perfectly perfect person from Perfectville." I'm just a football dad.

While celebrating your 3, ummm, excuse me, 4 win season don't forget to ask your HC why he applied for sooo many jobs last year (Vangaurd for one) and if NCT sends over a check, maybe you should hold on to it in case you need to pay your own FHSAA fines in the future. Don't Forget Central you were the Thugs last year too! PLease slink back to your Bear cave and stay off the NCT bandwagon. Right now we only have time for the utmost highest of authorities. haha Besides we're healthy and well prepared for our playoff game! playoff... playoff... hold on before you say it . . . "in doubt" does not mean definite. We'll be practicing Monday for Williston. Your welcome, for our ability to represent Hernando County in the playoffs!

How about this..., Hate is a strong word. Nobody at Central hates NCT. Central folks might scratch their heads wondering what is up with you guys at NCT...but nobody hates you.

Also, do you know if NCT mailed Central that check yet? It will help make Central's football banquet/gala even better.

Is there anyone who debates that it was South Lake who charged the NCT sideline? The South Lake Team CHARGED the NCT sideline! I don't know ethier team but to me that is what says so much! Would the reporter who was there please tell us what happened?

[NCT Football Mom]

All you perfectly perfect people from Perfectville, I guess you have forgotten what your stepford moms told you, If you don't have something nice to say, dont say anything at all!
If you wern't at the game in question, than you have no idea what happened. I was there and can tell you that I was afraid for my sons well being as well as for ALL the boys on the field. My son is not a "thug". He is a kind and gentle young man who is proud to be on the NCT football team. And yes, by the way, is college bound and has recieved trophys from the football program for haveing above a 3.0 GPA. Academics has always been a top priority with Coach Joyner. I honestly believe that you will always have a few "hot heads" on ANY team in Any sport in this country and around the world. That doesn't make fighting right it's just a fact. They wern't doing ballet it was a hard hitting football game that we were winning. There wasn't any amount of bantering going on between the teams just a regular game until the lights went out. And yes, it was dark! When my eyes adjusted enough to see and get down from the stands, most of the boys were back on the track and then were moved back to the fence. The only reason our benched "cleared" was so they could get back and away from the South Lake players that charged our line. They say it was a "brawl" Like every player from both teams were in the middle of the field fighting, kicking, spitting etc. That is far from the truth. Just because stuff is printed in the newspaper doesn't mean that is is accurate and true.
I think what upsets me the most in all of this is first that individuals are considered guilty until proven innocent in this matter. Coach Joyner is an exelent coach and mentor and I am proud to say that my son had the opertunity to be a part of the NCT Family for the past 4 years.
If this was suppose to be a crime scene as some have put it, than why wasn't everyone that was there made do remain in the stadium after the lights came back on, so we could all be questioned before stories could be collaberated on, a week or more later? And the most upsetting thing of all is that some of the people on here have such hatred for others. These are people that live in the same county, share the same roads and shop in the same stores as us. Can you understand why we are at war with another country? Maybe all you perfect people should give Peace a Chance. It may be good for your soul.

Best part about the 1-0 score is that it means the Rigewood-Zephyrhills 3-0 game wasn't the lowest scoring game of the week in the area.

[How about this. . .]

Great game Friday Night Central! Must have played real well!? Saw on FHSAA the score was 1-0, heck you didn't even get the usual forfiet total of 2-0. Much like your ability to score this season as a whole. Sure, a win is a win, especially when it puts you at 4-6 instead of 3-7. I'd hate NCT too if I had that kind of quality at my alma mater. Central, why such hate for Jaime Joyner? You guys are aware that your own Head Coach has been applying for coaching jobs around the area ever since he became your HC. Why is that? Holy cow! Hang in there, if Joyner is tanked and has to leave NCT you can push for him at Central! Yes, even you could re-enjoy a true quality football program again! There is hope for you pathetic cubs after all. Heck, you should want NCT to recruit players, that way maybe your school will drop to 3A size status and you can lose at a lower level as well!

[2:43 Your CAPS Lock is ON]

2:43 Dude stop yelling. We get it. Instead of putting everything in caps just make your point clearly.

Does Joyner use a stand up start or does he use a starting block to get on field first for fights?

[This is getting old]

CAN WE JUST ALL STOP CRYING AND COMPLAINING. AND JUST LET THE KIDS PLAY FOOTBALL. FOOTBALL IS AN EXCITING GAME TO WATCH AND ENJOY LISTENING TO AND WE ARE JUST BLOWING THIS OUT OF PROPORTION. CAN US GROWN UPS AND KIDS PLEASE GROW UP!! I'M TIRED OF PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT THIS LITTLE BRAWL IT WASN'T THAT BIG OF A DEAL. WHEN THE LIGHTS WENT OUT NONE OF THE PLAYERS FROM EITHER SIDE SHOULD OF WENT ON THE FIELD. FROM MY UNDERSTANDING SOUTH LAKE PLAYERS RUSHED NATURE COAST SIDELINE. IF YOU WERE IN THAT SITUATION WHAT CAN YOU DO? SIT THERE AND LET THEM ATTACK YOU WITHOUT DEFENDING YOURSELF COME ON!! JOYNER WILL NEVER THROW PUNCHES. HES JOB IS TO KEEP HIS KIDS SAFE AND GET THEM TO SAFETY. AND HE DID THAT. LET JOYNER COME BACK:: LET NCT TEAM PLAY THE PLAYOFFS! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH THESE KIDS BEEN THROUGH!! THEY LOST A CLOSE MEMBER OF THEIR FOOTBALL TEAM RIGHT B4 THIS SEASON(SCOTT AVERY #10) AND THEY WANTED TO GO 10-0 FOR HIM! AND GUESS WHAT YOU GUYS DON'T WANT THIS TO HAPPEN BECAUSE THERE PEOPLE IN THE WORLD THAT DOESN'T LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE! THE STATE RUIN MANY HEARTS AND MANY PEOPLES FEELINGS. NCT IS THE VICTIM!! R.I.P #10

http://sports.fhsaa.org/fb/results.php?date=11/14/08

Check it out...
Hah I love it 1-0 lol!

9-1
0-6

[Realism]

Okay folks! Especially you NCT haters! Please make sure that when your daughter or son gets into legal trouble that you totally turn your back and let them rot in jail rather than help them!!!!!! That seems to be your way of thinking! As far as all of you are concerned, you're on here bantering about a fight and yet all of you are doing this in a very verbally aggressive manner - sooooooooo - I'm sure most of you are PHYSICALLY AGGRESSIVE also -- which means I hope none of you are found being attacked in the DARK! - If most of you were soooooooo passive, you wouldn't be here - KARMA , watch out - Karma might come back at you!
Criminal punishment is necessary some times - but Football is barbaric and I'm sure it's hard to just turn it off, as did the lights! You all remember that KARMA like the Lord works in mysterious ways!

[Jonnie Cochran Said "You Must Acquit!"]

Johnnie Cochran said, "If the helmet don't fit you must acquit!" Johnnie's dead and rotting in hell. Even better OJ is in jail! No more excuses or wiggling out of criminal acts.

POLICE OFFICERS PLEASE DO YOUR JOBS!
There are hundreds of witnesses, miles of video and dozens of pictures.

WITNESSES REPORT WHAT YOU SAW!
If you have video, pictures or saw anyone hit anyone else and can identify any of the people involved with uniform numbers etc CALL THE COPS!

COPS PLEASE ARREST EVERYONE INVOLVED in the rioting on both teams. The thug playaz of TODAY are the convicted felons of TODAY.

Clean up the streets and toss these criminals in jail. Even any coaches if they were involved!

The sooner the police complete their investigations the better it will be for the community and the INNOCENT players and coaches.

Regardless of all COTEY SUCKS

[Lying Liars and the Lies They Tell.]

Lying Liars and the Lies They Tell. Just Scumbags Covering for Scum. I love the "witnesses" crawling out of the woodwork now. Especially the semi-pro football playing grandpa that says that the entire went stadium "ink black" including the concession stands but he could see across the field to see the entire South Lake team poetically, "seemed to rise as one, as if they had expected the lights to go out."

Amazingly the ONLY power in the entire facility was to the PA system! F-Off you jerk.

Otherwise stop talking garbage here and call the cops, give them your name and file a report as a witness!

Maurice...Imagine your cigarette smoking soldiers were in their barracks in the middle of the night and a fistfight broke out in the dark. Do you think when the sarge walks in to investigate, flips on the lights and finds guys with black eyes, broken ribs and busted up furniture, he is going to say go back to bed because no one could see anything in the dark. Nope, everyone will be disciplined.

Same thing needs to apply to the kids on both football teams. Unless positive proof points to specific troublemakers, or those responsible for damages and injuries step forward and accept full responsibility, everyone has to suffer. Even if just a few bad apples are responsible, both teams suffer consequences.

Sorry, no playoffs.

I was there too and after your eyes adjusted (about 20-30 seconds later) you can see the SL team because they wore white pants and dark blue shirts you would have to have been there to know what you are talking about. Don't judge and make comments about something you don't know about. I'ts obviously you were not there if you could say what you did you sound stupid.

[wellmo]

Mo--if you are claiming it was total darkness and the refs couldn't see ANYTHING at all, then how could you see the SL team all rise up together as one, as if they knew the lights were going out? Listen to yourself, man. SOme of what you say may be true, but when you say stuff like that, it makes everything else sound like its a lie.

[Mo Lubee]

I attended the football game last Friday evening, Nov 7, 2008 at South Lake High School and would like to relate the following observations to you and your staff. As the grandfather of a varsity cheerleader and former high school, service ball, park league and semi-pro football player, I attend almost every game and can be found either sitting with family or friends or sometimes along the fence following the ball position and action more closely.

This particular evening the game was spirited but didn't seem dirty or out of control. Nature Coast was substantially ahead with just over 3 minutes to play, when the lights suddenly went out.

All the lights including those in most concession stands went out without fluctuation or warning, plunging the entire stadium and fans into total darkness. The gentleman doing the play-by-play over the loudspeaker joked about it, saying "well, I guess we shoulda paid the light bill", followed shortly by "ohhh, ohhh, touchdown South Lake". Perhaps he didn't understand the seriousness of the situation.

I had been watching the game closely, and did note that as the darkness fell almost instantly on the stadium, the South Lake players seemed to rise as one person and started out towards the field. I can't over-emphasize how they seemed to rise as one, as if they had expected the lights to go out. Although the stadium darkened almost instantly, I could see them getting up even as it darkened.

My other recollection is of hearing Nature Coast Coach Jamie Joyner's voice immediately shouting "get back to the bench, get back to the bench" at his players. Having attended many Nature Coast football games, I do know Coach Joyner's voice well. A few minutes later he instructed his players to get against the fence near the Nature Coast fans, which they complied with.

Yes, I do know there was fighting in the intervening time going on out on the field, as the South Lake team had attacked the Nature Coast players, who had to defend themselves against the assault while trying to get back to the bench in one piece.

I wasn't surprised to read yesterday on the internet that South Lake had been suspended from their final game, but I was shocked that the State AA took the action they did today against Nature Coast and Coach Joyner.

One thing that sticks in my mind is the newpaper quote from the Referee that he "knew the kids were fighting, because he could hear them hitting each other"... he did not mention "seeing" them hitting each other, because the stadium was ink black, you couldn't see your hand held out at arms length. The Referee had also been in the center of the field where the light focus is concentrated, so he was understandably unable to see when the lights went out. It takes at least 15-30 minutes of darkness to gain any effective modicum of night vision. Eyes dilate and adjust to darkness slowly. This is why soldiers doing military night patrols aren't allowed to see light or to even light a cigarette for several hours before going out on a night patrol.

And this same Referee, who was hired to control and monitor these kids, was quoted as saying he only knew they were fightiing because he "heard the hits" as he was quoted stating to the Orlando Sentinel. Yet he is now quoted today as saying he "saw" Coach Joyner throwing punches at a South Lake player.

If this referee couldn't see kids in white uniforms throwing punches and had to rely on hearing them land to know they were fighting, how could he see a coach not in white uniform throwing punches? It just doesn't add up, that stadium was pitch black and nobody could see anything, particularly with eyes adjusted to high intensity flood lights during the few minutes of the scuffle.

I would say the lights were off for perhaps 15 minutes or more, but the mid-field skirmish was of much shorter duration, certainly not long enough for a referee working under floodlights to gain night vision. The field was totally dark.

I would also be remiss if I didn't mention that I'm proud of the school my grandaughter attends, proud that she cheerleads for such a great bunch of kids as play Nature Coast football. These kids play hard nosed fair sportsmanlike football and are a credit to their school and community. After each game the Nature Coast players usually join with the players from the opposing team after a hand shake to offer up a prayer while sitting together intermingled at the 50 yard line. This is the type of leadership, sportsmanship and inspiration Coach Joyner, his great staff and Nature Coast High School offers, and I'm proud to say he is our Nature Coast Coach, best high school football coach in Florida.

I think it is a travesty to take the play-offs away from these kids that have worked and played their hearts out to participate, and it is a signal to any school that wants to stop a play-off contender that they can easily do so by just starting a fight. What if the Boxing Commission had suspended both Tyson and Holyfield when Tyson bit Holyfield's ear off? This wouldn't have been justice, but it would have been easy.

I urge the State AA to investigate this incident further, to take the harder road and to do so quickly, so as to preserve justice for these kids that have given so much for a shot at the play-offs, dedicating their entire season to a teamate killed in an auto accident prior to the season.

[An Englishman across the Pond..]

Claims and counter claims, may I suggest that everyone waits until the the powers that be publish their findings following their "investigations". In England it is usually soccer fans rather than players who occasionally brawl (but not very often!!). I suppose that the high charged emotions in the competitive atmosphere of High School football, with all the pressures placed on players by parents and the local community on "winning", does get to some people. However, in the long run it is "Only a game folks!!)

Very well said 4:02

[Don't rush to judgment]

Re: Nature Coast Tech game canceled, playoffs in jeopardy Reply

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It seems like they are sitting over in Lake County changing their story by the minute. I can't believe how they have blown this up! First off and most importantly, OUR BENCH NEVER CLEARED! I probably shouldn't say anything but whatever, they are twisting it over there but the facts need to be known.
You can see the play on film before the lights go out but after that you can't see anything at all. We are up pretty decent, clean hard fought game - Tevin had 200 yards 3 TD's. There are 3 minutes 45 sec left in this meaningless game. 3rd and Long at their own 30.
They are going to pass - our LB comes through the middle and as he gets to the QB, lights out. The refs don't blow the whistle for 8 seconds probably. Our players head to the sideline. At this point we think after the lights get back on we will put in 2's. But, our LB that made the sack is like 5 yards from our sideline right in front of the ref and chain crew and Joyner. A lineman from South Lake runs full speed probably 20 yards and hits our kid right in the back and put him down hard, he is out of it. Then that player and another start kicking him!!! Refs start blowin their whistles.. So as a head coach, a kid you are responsible for is laying on the ground getting kicked and stomped... Stand and wait for the ref or help? Joyner pushes the kids back and helps our player up - next thing you know the whole South Lake team is on our sideline! Our Coaches had our kids under control. Sent them across the track to the fence. Maybe a couples kids slipped through for a moment.. but.. our bench cleared!!!???? Meanwhile SL trampled their own player on their way across the field.. he was laying on their side of the field outside the numbers. Coach Banks may have gotten hit but I don't know, maybe by his own players from how frustrated parents were saying that this team was.
I sure as hell know Joyner took a beating. But this is what happened. You can read the papers and see what those clowns are making it into. It is ridiculus.. Any of you that we have played probably know we are better than that.
The Central game was not our fault either for whoever brought that up.. If you want a good unbiased account of that, that game was broadcast in Hernando Cty and this is what the TV announcer said about it
-But what happened after this game is inexcusable and I find it odd that Coach Joyner apologized for his teams’ understandable retaliation defending their home field while Coach Lohrey remains silent (according to reports) after his team initiated the ruckus with their raunchiest actions.

But we really are a class program. Ask real teams like North Marion and South Sumter. We lost to South Sumter last year, shook hands, came together and prayed. We beat them this year, shook hands, came together and prayed. Lets just hope the truth comes out.
The worst part is that our players dedicated this season to Scott Avery. He was one of our Seniors. Right before the season he was killed in a hit and run by a drunk driver. He was #10. So, they dedicated it to him and said they would go 10-0 for him. We had it within reach and now it has been taken away. The players are crushed but they just gotta look ahead to Williston now as long as we still have the playoffs. We have 24 Seniors this year.. if they end our season.. there will be 24 broken hearts. They worked 4 years for this but what these guys THINK they saw can end it all? Just wrong...

[NCT Alumni '08]

i think its hilarious. you all need to be stand up comedians. im serious too. hahahahahhaaaaa.. since all of NCT is thugs!!!! right? and your school is perfect right? does anyone know the definition of a thug?
thug
–noun
1. a cruel or vicious ruffian, robber, or murderer.

clearly you all need to go back to english class.
im assuming you all are saying they are thugs because most of our team is of dark skin? get a life off of the st pete website.

[NCT Alumni '08]

one*

[NCT Alumni '08]

good on Marc! seriously.

[Marc McAffee]

" The report said it was too dark to identify any suspects."

Nuff Said!

It was a sight to see (or not see as it was a very dark night after those lights went out).I can say that the play was on NCT sidelines when the lights went out. I can say that the entire SL team and spectators came to the NCT sideline. Who threw what punch first is debatable as it was blindingly dark for several seconds after the lights went out. I know that the NCT players were up against the track fence on NCT side and under control while SL coaches, staff, spectators were still struggling to keep their players from breaking through to continue the fight. All of this on NCT sideline mind you. I'm not sure what the motivation is with the charges business. Maybe it has something to do with keeping SL's "future Gator" player out of the spotlight. Somebody from SL should really concentrate on getting that fuse box fixed as rumor has it this has happened before(and they still haven't caught, oops corrected it)

[nct player]

I like how we're getting the blunt end of all this when they're the ones that charged the field. As well as hit my coach in the face with a helmet

[wad]

Make that a 9-1 record----hahahahahahahahahahahaha, yup--9-1.

[thugs]

Lets see
you have cheated, recruited, and lied your way to a 9-0 record.
Your coach has put the "thug" in thuglife
You have sold your souls to the devil and now its time to pay the piper
KARMA IS A ________ (what cotey is)

I would hope the state attorney's office oversees this matter that spans two counties in its district, making sure things are done evenhandedly. Lots of things can happen in the background, hope no one gets royally screwed.