A high school football coach in Catoosa County, Georgia has been suspended following a reported altercation with one of his own players.
As reported by Georgia ABC affiliate WTVC, Heritage High School (Ringgold, Ga.) head football coach E.K. Slaughter has been suspended from all football activities for a week following an incident involving one of his players in the first half of the team’s season-opening victory; Heritage topped Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe, 17-16, on Friday.
Eyewitnesses told WTVC that Slaughter shoved a player back on the field by using his helmet in a moment that left the crowd in shock.
“All the fans around me were kind of in shock that the coach did it, and we all kind of let out a collective gasp and what are you doing,” Jeremy Jones, who was at Friday night’s game, told WTVC.
While Slaughter allegedly apologized to the shoved player at halftime, that wasn’t enough to escape a penalty of an enforced week away from the game for Slaughter.
Defensive Coordinator Jeremy New will serve as the Heritage head coach for the team’s Week 2 contest, and possibly longer depending on Slaughter’s timetable to return.
