Aberdeen High School”s ability to serve as host Friday night to Winona for the teams” scheduled football game could be in question after an incident last week involving a football official and members of the Aberdeen Police Department.
The incident happened last Friday following Aberdeen High”s 73-7 victory against Houston when Aberdeen police officers stopped a member of the officiating crew who worked the game as he was leaving the stadium area. The police officers issued the official a ticket, apparently for reckless driving, which the official didn”t believe he should have received.
Larry Riley, the assigning secretary for the Northeast Mississippi Officials Association, which services Aberdeen High in district one, said he has talked several times to the official, who he refused to name, and doesn”t know how the matter got to this point. He said he has worked with high school officials for 40 years, the past 29 as assigning secretary, and never has been involved in a situation like this.
“In most of the areas we go into the police do a fantastic job and do anything to help us that they can,” Riley said. “We do appreciate it, but when it comes to a situation like this it makes me wonder what in the world is going on.”
Riley, who wasn”t at the Aberdeen High game, said the official in question told him he was trying to move his vehicle from a muddy and grassy area to the pavement to leave the stadium area. He said the official told him he honked his horn in attempt to get several police officers who were blocking his exit to move when he was stopped.
“This is the most ridiculous thing you have every heard of,” Riley said. “The guy involved in this would do nothing to ever harm anybody or put anybody in any kind of jeopardy. I believe someone made it personal. I don”t know why the police took it personal. They might have thought he was being disrespectful by honking at them or letting them know he was coming out.”
Riley said the officials” association would like to have the ticket taken off the official”s record. He said it is his understanding that Aberdeen Police Chief Henry Randle is leaving the decision about what to do about the ticket up to the police officer in question.
Randle couldn”t be reached for comment Wednesday morning.
Riley also said the official and the officials” association would like an apology from the school and the school administrators who were on site as game managers. He said the school administrators failed to properly care for all of the officials after the game, and that if they would have the situation wouldn”t have gotten to this point.
Riley said he would like to get the matter resolved as quickly as possible, but he added the officials” association would act if its requests weren”t met.
“As it stands right now we will not be furnishing them with officials for that game (against Winona) if they don”t get things straightened out,” Riley said Tuesday night. “The (high school) activities association tells us to get our officials out of there as fast as we possibly can. We have a game manager who is supposed to meet us as soon as the game is over and help us get in our vehicles and help get us off as soon as possible. That did not happen at Aberdeen. If we had had a (member of the) school personnel there this would never occurred.
“(The school) is saying it did nothing wrong. They”re absolutely correct. They did nothing.”
Aberdeen High School Principal Reedell Holmes said Wednesday morning the situation is in the hands of the officials association. He said he spoke to John Allmond, president of the NMOA, and learned the association would like the school to “meet some demands from the school”s perspective” to help resolve the situation.
But Holmes said he doesn”t understand why the officials” association is attempting “to hold our school hostage” for something it can”t control.
Holmes said he and Wendy McCullough, the school”s athletic director, were at the school Friday night for the football game. He said the school had a plan and implemented it to make sure the officials were cared for before and after the game.
Holmes said he saw members of the Aberdeen Police Department escort the officials to their cars. From there, he said the situation escalated. Holmes said he was told the football official left the field and got into his vehicle and was traveling up on the road to leave when he almost hit two police officers and a couple of children. He said he was told police officers were trying to escort the official out of the gated area but he didn”t go in the direction he was told.
Holmes also said he was told the official had a bad attitude after he was stopped and given a ticket for reckless driving.
“What I am trying to get them to understand is I run the school, I do not run the police department,” Holmes said. “When the official steps off the field he becomes a citizen, and if a citizen if breaks the law or does something out of the ordinary, then the school has nothing to do with stopping another citizen.”
Holmes said he was told the NMOA would not send any football officials to Aberdeen High on Friday night for its game against Winona if the situation wasn”t resolved to its liking. He believes it is unfair for the officials” association to do that.
“That the situation has escalated to this level has no validity,” Holmes said. “We can”t get the man”s ticket erased.”
Holmes said he hadn”t spoken with Randle about the situation, and that he wasn”t sure if anyone from the school district had talked to the Aberdeen Police Department.
Despite the incident, Holmes said the Aberdeen High football team anticipates playing its game Friday in Aberdeen.
“We are expecting referees to be here Friday night,” Holmes said.
Larry Thomas, associate director and supervisor of officials for the Mississippi High School Activities Association, said he has talked with both parties in the matter and that everyone is working to get the matter resolved. He wouldn”t say who he spoke with, but he said he had spoken with representatives from Aberdeen High, the officials” association, and one person at the Aberdeen Police Department. He wouldn”t say if that person was Randle.
Thomas, who works out of the MHSAA”s office in Jackson, said he didn”t know how long it would take for the matter to be resolved.
Aberdeen School District Superintendent Chester Leigh was in a conference Wednesday morning and couldn”t be reached for comment.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.