Ugly Sideline Brawl Ends Colorado High School Football Game Before Halftime
A Colorado high school football game ended early after a brawl erupted on the field just before halftime.
City Rivals Meet In Annual Cannon Game
The incident happened Friday night in Pueblo during a game between city rivals Pueblo East and Pueblo South. The annual matchup dates back to 1959 and became the "Cannon Game" in 1976. Each year, the teams play for the chance to host a working Civil War-era cannon that is awarded to the winner of the annual game. The winning school gets to paint and decorate the cannon which is then fired at the school's events throughout the school year.
Friday night's version of the Cannon Game ended in ugly fashion with the game being called before it even reached halftime.
Brawl On the Field
Pueblo East was leading the contest 23-0 when a fight erupted with just over a minute to play in the first half. A Pueblo South ball carrier was tackled well out of bounds on the South sideline and a flag was thrown for what appeared to be a late hit out of bounds. The two sides began pushing and shoving and the melee spilled out onto the field and more penalty flags went flying.
A couple of minutes after calm and order were finally restored, officials declared the game to be over, with East winning 23-0. The cannon will go to East, though it was not awarded before fans left the stadium. Pueblo South leads the "Cannon Game" series 32-14.
Aaron Bravo, the District 60 Athletic Director told KRDO News "Unfortunately, emotions get the best of people sometimes, and that's what happened tonight." Bravo said they would be meeting to look at the situation to see what they can do to keep it from happening again. You can watch what happened in the video below.