GHSA reinstates 4 of 39 suspended Gainesville football players

The Georgia High School Association on Tuesday reinstated four of the 39 Gainesville football players suspended for their involvement in a fight during last week’s second-round playoff victory over Brunswick.

The four included the two Gainesville players whose helmets were pulled off by a Brunswick player at the start of the altercation. Those were defensive backs Jamarcus Sims and Roger Holder.

The four also included star players Xavier Griffin, an AJC Super 11 selection, and Jamarion Matthews, both of whom are committed to Alabama. Griffin and Matthews were among the 11 defensive players on the field when the fight began.

The GHSA’s board of trustees was convinced that the four did not contribute to the fight. The motion to reinstate the four passed 9-1. A motion to keep the other players suspended passed 8-2.

The game was discontinued with 1:57 left in the third quarter. Gainesville was leading 42-0 and declared the winner.

Gainesville’s appeal, heard on a Zoom call Tuesday, conceded the suspension of four players who threw punches, but it called for reinstating 35 others, 24 of whom left the bench area, a violation of GHSA bylaws that calls for automatic one-game sit-out penalties.

Gainesville did not appeal the $5,000 in fines or being placed on severe warning status.

Gainesville athletic director Adam Lindsey, football coach Josh Niblett and school system superintendent Jeremy Williams defended players who entered the field from the sideline.

According to video, the fight started at midfield when a Brunswick wide receiver pulled the helmet off one Gainesville player, then another, and punched a Gainesville player. Another Brunswick player ran about 30 yards and blindsided one of the two Gainesville players, knocking him to the ground.

Players from both teams ran to midfield, and the melee escalated, drawing in players from each sideline.

Niblett agreed that any players who threw punches should be ejected but defended those he argued were protecting their teammates.

“If you got siblings, if you’ve got a wife, you’ve got a husband, and they were on that field, and they got their helmet ripped and then got jabbed in the face, what would you do?” Niblett said. “Or you might stay on the sideline. Well, let me tell you this. When your brother doesn’t have a helmet on, and a guy takes a 40-yard sprint and hits him and sideswipes him, you’re just going to stand on the sideline? No, you’re going to do what’s natural. You’re going to protect your brothers. And this is the way I’ve raised these kids.”

GHSA executive director Tim Scott defended the bylaw.

“As executive director, I can’t allow both teams to run on the field because it just turns the temperature up,” Scott said. “Having other kids run into a fight situation can cause injuries. ... We have to follow the bylaw.”

Glynn County Schools athletic director Steve Waters recused himself from the vote and apologized for Brunswick’s role.

“This whole incident would not have happened if not for two of our kids,” Waters said. “We’re here because of a lack of discipline on our part, and we’re taking responsibility for that. We’ve got a lot of soul searching to do over next few months. We do want everybody to know we take full responsibility for what happened.”

Brunswick announced Tuesday that the GHSA had imposed a one-year postseason ban, suspended 41 players and fined the school $5,000.