It was all over but the handshake after Saturday's matchup between Winston-Salem State and Johnson C. Smith at Bowman Gray Stadium but unfortunately that’s when things took an ugly turn.
Winston-Salem had beaten Johnson C. Smith for the 19th straight time on Saturday when a brawl between the two teams broke out during post-game handshakes. The melee had to be broken up by coaches, administrators and a few police officers.
Both teams released statements on the incident Monday morning.
Ben Baxter, an assistant commissioner for strategic communications, released a statement to the Journal from Jacqie McWilliams, the CIAA commissioner.
"The CIAA has been asked to review video footage from a postgame altercation at Bowman Gray Stadium following the WSSU versus JCSU football game,” McWilliams said in the statement. “We are aware of social media posts and articles regarding the incident. The conference office will continue to work with both institutions for resolution of the matter."
George Knox, the interim athletics director at WSSU, released a statement on Sunday afternoon condemning the situation.
"On behalf of WSSU's athletic department, we would like to thank players, staff and others who helped to resolve the issue following the football game on Saturday as quickly as possible," Knox said. "We are appalled by the events that took place, and a full internal investigation is under way.
“You hate to see that, because at the end of the day it’s all about competition,” JCS coach Kermit Blount told the Wisconsin State Journal. “It’s all about sportsmanship and I don’t feel my guys exhibited good sportsmanship at the end — and I hate that.”
