NEWYou can now listen to Fox News Articles!
An NCAA Division II college football game between the Central State University Marauders and the Fort Valley State University Wildcats descended into chaos Saturday after the final whistle blew.
Central State beat Fort Valley State, 18-14, to spoil the Wildcats’ homecoming day. But the action didn’t end there.
Click here for more sports coverage on FoxNews.com
Sign posts and markers at the bottom are seen before the Division II football championship held at McKinney ISD Stadium on December 21, 2024 in McKinney, Texas. (C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
A video posted to social media by reporter Kalan Hooks showed two Wildcats players getting into a melee with a Marauders player. Players began dogpiling on each other with punches thrown into the ruckus. Just when things seemed to be cooling down and the players were separated, another skirmish occurred near the stands.
“Coaches, remove your players from the field,” the public address announcer was heard to say.
The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), to which both football programs belong, announced Monday that 20 players had been suspended over the brouhaha — 11 players from Central State and nine from Fort Valley. The two head coaches were also suspended.
Oklahoma to add padding to football stadium’s brick wall after Keoneze Lewis’s first collision
The field is seen before the NCAA Division II Football Championship held at McKinney ISD Stadium on December 21, 2024 in McKinney, Texas. (C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
“Acts of unsportsmanlike conduct do not occur in intercollegiate athletics or the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference,” AIAC Commissioner Anthony Holloman said in a statement. “I am extremely disappointed that this event overshadowed what was otherwise a very competitive football match.”
The conference said both schools violated its ethics code and were fined an undisclosed amount.
Detailed view of a penalty flag during a football game on November 7, 2024 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
Click here to get the Fox News app
“We do not tolerate behavior that falls short of these standards, and we are taking the necessary steps to ensure our student-athletes understand the importance of representing the university with wild pride and professionalism on and off the field,” Fort Valley State said in a statement.
Follow Fox News Digital’s Sports coverage on x and subscribe to The Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
