During the second half of the football game between Mallard Creek and West Charlotte on Friday, a fight apparently broke out in the stands.

The stands on the West Charlotte side of the court suddenly emptied with 9:19 left in the third quarter, with Mallard Creek leading 13-0. Play resumed more than an hour later after officials escorted fans out of the stadium, with Mallard Creek winning 13-12 in a game that featured two of the top five teams in the Observer’s Sweet 16 poll tied.

“It’s sad when someone does something like that … when they come to an event where there are kids and families,” West Charlotte coach Sam Greiner said. “If you’re coming here to cause trouble, go somewhere else. I don’t have time for that.”

Following the incident – which was unclear exactly what had happened – the teams quickly moved to the other end of the pitch, away from the dressing rooms, as a fight had apparently broken out near that area.

At least one person was carried off the field on a stretcher as a police helicopter flew overhead. Several others were taken to hospital by ambulance.

After a delay of about 15 minutes, both teams returned to their sides of the field and the match officials, after a long discussion between the school and the match officials, decided to remove the fans before the game resumed.

“The first thing that comes to mind is the safety of our players on the field and the safety of our fans,” Mallard Creek coach Kennedy Tinsley said. “When safety comes in, you become a Papa Bear. It’s very easy to sit there and point your finger and say, ‘Hey man, things are out of control here.’ But at the end of the day, it’s unfair to this community. It’s a great community. It’s built on great traditions and great people and they deserve to be able to come and watch a football game without any bullshit and nonsense.”

The Observer has contacted Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools for comment but has not yet received a response.

The Observer spoke with West Charlotte Dean of Students Vickie Ruff, who was sitting in the press box near the center line at the time of the incident.

“We were just told to go down,” Rowe said, “and then we saw a wave of people just running. We were told to go down and we did … I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Mallard Creek’s late stop brings victory

Mallard Creek seemed to be comfortably heading for its third win of the season when chaos broke out on and off the field.

This resulted in the Mavericks having to accept a narrow 13-12 victory over West Charlotte in Friday night’s Queen City 3A/4A Conference opener – a game marred by an incident while clearing the stands early in the second half.

The match was postponed for more than an hour after the referees decided that it would be played without spectators in the stands – both on the home and away sides – and the match was restarted just 12 minutes before 10 p.m.

Before the delay, Mallard Creek (3-1, 1-0) led 13-0 on a 4-yard touchdown run by Caleb Knight in the first quarter, a 7-yard keeper by Perry Justice in the second quarter and Micah McClain’s extra point kick.

The Mavericks’ defense also caused problems for West Charlotte (2-1, 0-1): They only allowed four first downs for the Lions in the first three quarters and sacked quarterback Jamouri Nicholas six times.

West Charlotte also made mistakes that thwarted its own plans – 15 penalties over a distance of 85 yards in three quarters.

But after the delay, the Lions managed to turn the tide and the Mavericks could no longer stop them.

West Charlotte managed its two longest possessions of the game in the final 10 minutes – a 13-play drive resulted in Nichols’ 4-yard keeper with 4:45 left, and his 1-yard pass with 56 seconds left made the game 13-12.

But the Lions failed on both extra point attempts – Bam Mobley’s extra point kick was blocked after Nichols’ first TD and Nichols’ two-point pass to Rakim Finch landed in the end zone.

Three people who made the difference

Jamouri Nichols, West Charlotte: He ran for both of the Lions’ touchdowns (although he had zero yards on 15 attempts due to sacks) and threw for 155 yards on 14 of 26 attempts.

Perry Justice, Mallard Creek: Had 129 total yards on offense for the Mavericks, ran for 41 yards and a touchdown, and threw for 88 yards on 6 of 8 attempts.

Christian Dixon, Mallard Creek: Ran for 58 rushing yards on 15 carries, the highest performance of the game, more than any other running back in Friday’s game.

What happens next?

Mallard Creek hosts nearby Hopewell — the two schools are about eight miles apart — in a Queen City 3A/4A game next Friday. West Charlotte, meanwhile, travels to conference rival West Mecklenburg next Friday.

They said it

“Good teams have to do that. Credit to our team for that. You have to find a way to win the games that don’t go the way you want. Our guys continue to do that, but of course that shows we still have a lot of work to do to get where we want to be.” — Kennedy Tinsley, Mallard Creek coach

GAME SUMMARY

MALLARD CREEK 6 7 0 0 – 13

WEST CHARLOTTE 0 0 0 12 – 12

First quarter

MC – Caleb Knight, 4 runs (kick failed), 3:48.

Second quarter

MC – Perry Justice 7 run (Micah McClain kick), 4:41.

Fourth quarter

WC – Jamouri Nichols, 3 runs (kick blocked), 4:46.

WC – Nichols 1 run (pass failed), 0:56.