Pennsylvania High School Cancels Football Season, Cites Hazing

A Pennsylvania high school has canceled its 2022 football season after finding evidence of "more widespread" hazing during the preseason.

Dr. Chelton Hunter, Middletown Area School District superintendent, said in a statement Wednesday that the Blue Raiders will not play football this season after alleged hazing incidents occurred during the team's acclimation period. Hunter previously announced an investigation into a hazing incident in early August.

After reviewing video footage of another incident, Hunter announced the decision to cancel the season "with great regret."

"The kind of hazing that occurred in our facilities with this team is reprehensible," Hunter said in a statement. "It simply cannot and will not be tolerated. We know we must work to address the culture of this team, educate our student body about hazing, and put programs in place to help us ensure that this kind of atmosphere is never allowed to exist in our school facilities."

Middletown is conducting an investigation and has shared the videos with law enforcement.

Officials first learned of an alleged hazing incident Aug. 12 that occurred the day before. According to Hunter, video showed "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."

Officials removed players from the team who were identified in the video as participating in the incident, Hunter said. Three days later, Middletown head coach Scott Acri resigned.

In a statement earlier this week, Hunter said that officials were discussing the "potential impact" of canceling the football season. Hunter said that the latest video "demonstrates that this hazing was much more widespread, and involved many more students, than we had previously known," resulting in the season's cancellation.

"To be clear, Middletown Area School District will not tolerate hazing, is committed to investigating all reported incidents of hazing, and is actively engaged in pursuing discipline for the students responsible for violating our policies in this case," Hunter said. "The District is cooperating with law enforcement investigators and will continue doing so until the investigation is completed. We are addressing this matter with the utmost sense of urgency to ensure that our school environment is free from behaviors that are meant to demean, humiliate or harm other students."

Middletown Area High competes in District 3 of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association.