Prep All-Star Football Game Called After Multiple Scuffles

Short tempers made for a short evening at Friday night's Class 3A/4A All-Star Football Game at Nusenda Community Stadium.

Numerous on-field scuffles broke out between the North and South squads during the first half, prompting game officials to call the game just before halftime. The South held a 21-0 lead and was declared the winner when the contest was stopped.

Buster Mabrey, executive director of the New Mexico High School Coaches Association, which puts on the state's annual prep all-star series, said he supported the decision. No players were ejected, but there were numerous incidents, hits and shoving matches after the whistle and a slew of penalties, Mabrey said.

"Just a lot of unsportsmanlike behavior going on and no seemed to be able to get it under control," Mabrey said. "Both teams were equally involved and the coaches didn't get it stopped. The officials decided the game could not be completed in an appropriate manner and we supported their decision."

Shiprock's Eric Stovall and Jaime Ramirez of Portales were listed as respective North and South coaches on the NMHSCA website. Bernalillo and Moriarty are the only Albuquerque metro-area schools that compete in Class 3A or 4A football.

Mabrey said he had not seen the officials' postgame report as of Saturday afternoon, but video showed several altercations after plays had concluded. The last occurred with 6 seconds remaining in the first half, when the game was called.

"It's a black eye for everyone involved," Mabrey said. "We've had a lot of great all-star games this week with kids and fans having fun, and this incident doesn't take away from them. This is not our signature event, but it is a black eye and I feel like stopping the game was appropriate. We don't want anything like this to ever happen again."

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