Fight halts Lady Redhawks game with Esparto
A fight at the end of the girls soccer match between Colusa High and visiting Esparto marred a tightly contested match between the top two teams in the Sacramento Valley League-Two on Tuesday.
The incident took place in the 68th minute of the match and resulted in one Colusa player and two Esparto players receiving red cards.
Video of the incident shows an Esparto player grabbing a Colusa player and swinging her around, then another Esparto player charged into the fray and players from the Spartans bench running onto the field.
The match was called at that point and Esparto, which was leading 1-0 at the time, was awarded the victory.
Colusa Athletics Director Jamie Myers said they are appealing whether the win should be awarded to Esparto because all the Spartans who entered the field of play should have received a red card and been removed from the game. The Colusa players stayed on the sideline.
Esparto is 8-1-1 overall and 7-0 in league, while Colusa dropped to 5-4-4 and 4-2 in league.
There are at least two videos of the incident, one recorded by a parent and another by a player, and several photographers were at the game. Myers said the school is working to submit the video to the Northern Section commissioner's office in an effort to get the result overturned.
Coach Amanda Jones, retired coach Randy Watt and a parent were quick to tell the players on the Colusa sideline to stay put and they did, which helped prevent the situation from escalating according to Colusa principal Darren Brown.
"I'm proud of our girls who decided to not enter the field," Brown said.
The two teams are scheduled to play again on Thursday in Esparto and there will be added security, Brown said. Brown and Mid-Valley League president Tony Herman will attend the match.
Going into the game, Colusa hadn't lost since Dec. 13 and were playing their best soccer of the year, and were playing great against Esparto before the incident, according to Jones.
"I'm just happy the way we were playing against them," she said.
CONTACT Kirk Barron at 458-2121 or kbarron@tcnpress.com.
