Charges were filed against three youth football coaches from Carlynton and Keystone Oaks fighting on the field, the Carnegie police said Thursday.
During a game over the weekend between third and fourth grade players in the Steel City Youth Football League, coaches were seen yelling at one another during a play before a dramatic scene unfolded that included punches being thrown. The fight went viral after a parent in the stands posted video online.
DeQuay Canton, an offensive coach with Carlynton, faces a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct as well as a summary charge of harassment.
“If you watch the video, the Carlynton coach goes up to a Keystone Oaks coach,” Carnegie Police Chief Jeffrey Kennedy said. “There’s a little bit of pushing there, then people are trying to hold the Carlynton coach back, several people, and another time appears that another Keystone Oaks coach goes up to him and the Carlynton coach body slams him.”
Two of the Keystone Oaks coaches, Joseph Kubiak and Frank McGrath, face one summary charge each of disorderly conduct.
Both teams are independent of the school districts.
“Video doesn’t lie,” Kennedy said. “It tells the whole story. We’ve watched it probably 40 or 50 times just to see everything, and the big difference between the Carlynton coach and why we charged him with a misdemeanor, he threw punches. He didn’t back down.”
According to the criminal complaint, Canton acted aggressively toward coach McGrath, and as the two met up near the play, McGrath pushed Canton twice, which led Canton to swat his arms off of him. As people yelled for Canton to get off the field, Canton allegedly continued to swing his arms.
Once coach Kubiak came into the scrum, he ran at Canton, and Canton leg-tackled him, taking him to the ground. Kubiak was then seen throwing punches toward Canton. Canton hit Kubiak with a punch while he was on the ground.
On Monday, Canton spoke with KDKA-TV and said several of his players came up to him in tears during the game, claiming they had been called racial slurs by opposing players. He said he asked the referees to look into it and ultimately lost his cool.
“I read the Carlynton coach’s response, and he said it was racial slurs were said, and we took that into account,” Kennedy said. “But no matter what was said, his conduct could not be explained, and that’s why we filed the charges. But we have no proof of any kind of racial slurs at this time.”
The Steel City Youth Football League said it has indefinitely suspended the coaches as it investigates the situation. KDKA-TV reached out for additional information on Thursday after charges were filed and did not hear back.
“It’s 9- and 10-year-olds,” Kennedy said. “It’s definitely not an example that I believe you should be setting for kids.”
KDKA-TV has also learned that Kubiak is the assistant superintendent at Keystone Oaks School District. In a statement on Thursday, the school board said it is investigating his involvement in the brawl.
“The youth football league is operated by Steel City Youth Football and is independent of the Keystone Oaks School District,” the statement said, in part. “While this incident occurred outside of the employee’s professional duties, the district takes the incident seriously and is investigating the employee’s involvement in the incident.”
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