Western Pa. high school football program pauses season as police investigate hazing incident

As a police investigation into a hazing incident involving the Middletown football team continues, another Pennsylvania high school has paused its season after a reported incident within its program.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Mohawk has put its season on “temporary hold” while its district and the Lawrence County District Attorney’s office investigate a hazing incident that reportedly occurred last week.

The Post-Gazette said Mohawk coach Tim McCutcheon said Tuesday that his team has not practiced since last Thursday as the investigation takes place. Mohawk cancelled its Saturday scrimmage, and The Post-Gazette said it has also cancelled its Friday season opener with Union.

McCutcheon told the newspaper that his school was “very aggressive in the handling of this situation.”

Mohawk did not provide further details regarding the incident.

Mohawk Superintendent Michael Leitera said to parents in a letter Tuesday that the varsity and junior varsity program would remain shut down until at least Sunday, according to The Post-Gazette. In that letter, he said that the district “is still working with law enforcement,” while conducting its own investigation. The newspaper said that a statement is expected from Lawrence County District Attorney Joshua Lamancusa.

This comes nearly two weeks after Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo told PennLive his office was working with police to investigate a hazing incident within the Middletown program after a pair of graphic videos surfaced on social media. A psychologist who specializes in high school violence told PennLive the videos were a “clear” incident of “sexualized hazing.”

Scott Acri, who was hired to coach the team prior to last season, resigned his position early last week, and Rob Brodish was named acting head coach for the year.

Unlike Mohawk, Middletown did not pause its program, and instead it continued to practice. The Blue Raiders hosted Northern Saturday for a scrimmage and are slated to open the regular season Friday against Lower Dauphin.

In a statement issued Monday, Middletown Superintendent Chelton Hunter the school considered canceling its season but opted not to after considering the effect it would have on the football players who were not involved as well as the school’s band and cheerleading team.

“Cell phone video, taken by players, shows a group of students restraining two of their teammates and using a muscle therapy gun and another piece of athletic equipment to poke the buttock areas of the students who were on the ground,” Hunter wrote. “The video shows players fully clothed. It did not appear that any student’s body was physically penetrated. The video is difficult to watch as this is a completely unacceptable, offensive, and highly inappropriate act.”

“Behavior such as that seen on the video simply will not be tolerated,” he added.

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