The match officials involved in Saturday's altercation during the Hunt High girls soccer playoff game were not supposed to intervene in the fight involving two players and a spectator, a N.C. High School Athletic Association official told the Daily Times Wednesday.
"An official is not to break up a fight," said Mark Dreibelbis, supervisor of officiating for the NCHSAA. "They are to take preventative measures, but if it becomes physical, it is not their responsibility. They are to observe so they can accurately sanction anyone involved."
Dreibelbis said that police officers and school officials work by a whole different set of rules, but the officials, under NCHSAA rules, are not supposed to jump in because of the possibility they could injure themselves, a player or anyone else involved for which they may be held liable.
Chris Pappas, a longtime official from Wilson, reiterated Dreibelbis' message.
"What we're told to do is step back, get numbers and write them down," said Pappas, a 15-year veteran at the high school, college and pro levels.
Rick Strunk, the associate executive director at the NCHSAA, clarified his statements made Tuesday to The Wilson Daily Times in which he said: "Two kids, (the officials) can handle."
Strunk said late Wednesday morning that statement referred to helping prevent a fight before it erupted. But, once a fight starts, just as Dreibelbis and Pappas said, the officials are not obligated to break up the fight and that spectators are never allowed onto the field, Strunk said.
Dreibelbis pointed to the participants themselves to help prevent the situation from occurring.
"Really, it's the responsibility of the students to not be in that situation," Dreibelbis said. "The first line of defense should be the student-athlete.
"It's not 'who should step in,' but behavior modification -- that's were the responsibility lies."
Pappas also indicated that referees, if they are where they supposed to be, are often not close enough to prevent a fight before it turns physical.
"It often happens in the blink of an eye," he said.
And even when they are, he said they are trained to be extremely careful to avoid contact that might cause harm, using the example of a baseball umpire pointing away from the player or coach when signaling an ejection.
Dreibelbis noted that, while coaches are supposed to stay at their benches to prevent players from going onto the field, that a referee can beckon a coach onto the field in the same way as for an injury. Pappas, however, said that application has been rare in his experience.
"That's a judgment call by the ref but, in 15 years, I've never seen a referee beckon a coach onto the field for a fight," Pappas said.
The officials for Saturday's game were head referee Ken Rudder and linesmen Paul LoRusso and Steve Fulks. They were assigned by the Triangle Referee Association.
FOOTBALL COACH'S PENALTY
Randy Raper, the Hunt football coach and physical education teacher, was suspended as a spectator from all spring sports games by the high school, said Que Tucker, deputy executive director of the NCHSAA. She said she was told of the action by Hunt High officials.
Tucker also indicated that there may be more sanctions against Raper for fall sports, but that nothing has been made official. She said that they would not affect his duties as head football coach.
During Saturday's Hunt girls soccer game against Gray's Creek, Raper ran onto the field after his daughter, Brittany, was involved in a fight with Gray's Creek Chassidy Eaton.
Raper made contact with the players, knocking Eaton down, later saying in the Wilson County Sheriff's report that he was trying to break up the fight and that it was not intentional.
Neither player was injured and both were ejected. Raper was asked to leave the field, but remained near the school at the request of sheriff's deputies, who were not staffing the game but were later called.
As of Wednesday, Raper's status as physical education teacher and football coach were unchanged, said Wilson County Schools spokesman Bob Kendall.
NCHSAA officials will also decide whether to add penalties on top of Hunt's, but Tucker said that they will wait until Hunt's actions are finalized before deciding.
mlindsay@wilsontimes.com | 265-7807