Emotions Still Run High Days After Citrus Valley/Aquinas Debacle

Four days after a first round playoff game between Citrus Valley High School and Aquinas turned ugly, fans and students are still feeling the effects.

The teams faced off Friday night during the first round of the East Valley Division playoffs. It was Citrus Valley’s first CIF-Southern Section playoff berth, earned only three years after the school officially opened.

It turned into a debacle after Citrus Valley lost the lead late, creating tensions that incited brutality by some players on the field and several fights, including one between a player and a team coach.

“Absolutely classless,” wrote one spectator following the game. “Worst display of sportsmanship I have ever seen,” wrote another.

The Redlands Unified School District had gotten calls from upset fans. But a district staff member there said Superintendent Lori Rhodes, along with other district members who could address the issue, were out of the office and would not be available until after the Thanksgiving holiday.

CIF officials said they received a report detailing the ejection of a Citrus Valley player, which the high school sports governing body has already reviewed.

“Simply, the student sits out the next game,” Thom Simmons, director of communications for the CIF-Southern Section, said about the punishment. “If he’s an underclassman, it means that he sits out the first game of the following season.”

There have been no other reports submitted to CIF, ending their involvement in the incident for the moment, Simmons said.

“Now if some new information comes to light, then at that point we might look into doing more,” Simmons said.

The player had not officially been identified. He was ejected in the fourth quarter with about 10 seconds left on the clock. The referee dispatched the player without making an official penalty call, then ended the game, allowing the clock to count down. The action followed what appeared an unnecessarily rough hit on an Aquinas player.

The Falcons won the game, 19-9.

The end of the game did not quell tensions. After Aquinas refused to participate in a postgame handshake, players became outraged. Coaches sent the team to the locker room, and a young man charged toward the Aquinas sidelines and had to be subdued by Citrus Valley security and coaches.

Following the chaos, coach Pete Smolin said, "We've got to keep our composure." He added that his players were young, and as the school's first senior class, had not had any previous student role models.

But many spectators remain angry and have called for some type of action against the young aggressors that night.

But with the schools closed for the holiday, a response to those calls will have to wait.