Diamond Bar forfeits next game vs. Rowland after being hit by heavy suspensions, Diamond Ranch sees 19 players suspended

The punishments have been handed out and it’s not pretty for the Diamond Bar and Diamond Ranch high school football teams.

Diamond Bar has forfeited its next game on Nov. 1 against Rowland following substantial player suspensions.

According to a release put out by the Southern Section, Diamond Bar had all but one player who was on the sideline at the time of the altercation leave the confines of the bench or team area. Those players are considered ejected.

The rest of the numbers are not pretty for the Brahmas:

FOUR players ejected on-site by the officiating crew.

Following review of game footage, an additional FIVE players ejected due to fighting and/or assaultive behavior

Diamond Ranch tally:

THREE players ejected from the contest on-site by the officiating crew.

Following review of game footage, an additional FIVE players ejected following for fighting and/or assaultive behavior.

ELEVEN players ejected for leaving the bench.

Diamond Ranch, which is 6-1 and in first place in the Hacienda League, plays Rowland on Friday. Diamond Bar is 5-3 and has a bye this week. Forfeiting its Nov. 1 game against Rowland could cost the Brahmas a chance at the Southeast Division playoffs. Diamond Bar is currently in a five-way battle for second and third place in the Hacienda League. Both spots come with automatic playoff berths.

The brawl occurred with just over three minutes to play in the fourth quarter of last week’s game. Officials decided to halt the game and make it official with Diamond Ranch leading 34-20.

Both schools agreed to let the Southern Section office handle the penalties for the brawl after filing incident reports detailing their accounts of the fight. The Southern Section also used reports from the game officials as well as video of the fight during its investigation.

Under NFHS rules, any player who leaves his team’s bench area to join in a fight faces a mandatory one-game suspension for the following game.