Victor Valley High School Suspends Varsity Football Team, Forfeits Next Game After Bell Game Conduct

VICTORVILLE, Calif. (VVNG.com) — Victor Valley High School has suspended its varsity football players and coaching staff from football activities for one week following what district officials described as unsportsmanlike conduct during the Bell Game on Friday, Sept. 11.

The suspension means the team will not play its next regularly scheduled game on Sept. 18, which will be forfeited, according to a joint statement from Victor Valley Union High School District Superintendent Carl Coles and Victor Valley High School Principal Darius Robinson.

“Members of the Victor Valley High School football team behaved in an unsportsmanlike manner toward the opposing team and its fans, including offensive gestures and language,” Coles and Robinson said in the statement.

The administrators said high school athletics should emphasize more than wins and losses and that athletes and coaches are expected to compete with intensity while maintaining character, sportsmanship, respect and personal accountability.

“There is a clear line between passionate competition and unacceptable conduct. That line was crossed at the Bell Game on Friday, September 11,” the statement said.

School officials did not provide specific examples of the gestures or language referenced in the statement. However, video circulated on social media from the game showed the Victor Valley Jackrabbits mascot walking along the track near the field while raising a middle-finger gesture towards spectators.

The statement said school leaders and district administrators will spend the coming week working directly with the coaching staff and football team to address what happened, review the athletic code of conduct and reinforce expectations for student-athletes and coaches.

“There will be accountability. There will be reflection. And there will be a clear expectation that this cannot happen again,” Coles and Robinson said.

The statement also included an apology to Apple Valley High School and its community.

“On behalf of the Victor Valley Union High School District and Victor Valley High School, we offer our sincere apology to the players, students, staff, coaches, parents, and community members of Apple Valley High School, as well as to the proud Jackrabbit supporters.”

Officials acknowledged that Victor Valley High School, as the host school, did not meet expectations for sportsmanship and hospitality.

“As the host school, we fell short of the standard of respect, sportsmanship, and hospitality that our neighboring community deserved. We accept responsibility, and we are committed to doing better.”

Coles and Robinson said the conduct Friday night does not represent the values of the school’s teachers, staff, administrators or the students and alumni who represent Victor Valley High School.

“Our responsibility is not to explain away what happened, but to address it, learn from it, and ensure it does not happen again,” they said.

The statement concluded by emphasizing accountability and the district’s responsibility to develop students beyond athletics.

“Our responsibility as educators is not simply to develop better athletes, it is to develop better human beings,” Coles and Robinson said.

The Jackrabbits defeated the Sun Devils 20-7 in the Bell Game and retained possession of the Bell.

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