Texas high school football player seen on video tackling referee is charged with assault

Wilson Wong and Kurt Chirbas and David K. Li
Updated ·2 min read

A high school football team was thrown out of the Texas playoffs Friday after one of its players leveled a referee in an ugly on-field incident caught on tape.

Emmanuel Duron, a senior defensive tackle at Edinburg High School, was ejected from a game Thursday for a late hit and unsportsmanlike conduct against a player from Pharr-San Juan-Alamo High School, NBC affiliate WOAI-TV reported.

He has since been charged with assault.

In the video posted by Rio Sports Live, Duron can be seen running from the sidelines and slamming the referee down onto the turf.

The referee was evaluated for a concussion by medical personnel while officers from the school district escorted Duron out of the stadium, according to the station.

The game resumed after a brief delay, and Edinburg went on to a 35-21 victory that should have sent Duron's team into the playoffs.

But the Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District said its legal counsel and officials with the University Interscholastic League — the governing body of Texas high school sports — "decided to remove the Edinburg High School football team from the playoffs after an unexpected incident involving a student-athlete and a game official."

"We extend a sincere apology to the referee and his family. On behalf of the Edinburg CISD Board of Trustees and administration, we apologize to the athletes, staff and our school community," the district's statement continued.

"The UIL has made it clear to Interim Superintendent Gilbert Garza Jr. that UIL would have removed the football team from the playoffs if the district did not withdraw the team."

The 5-foot-11, 225-pound Duron was briefly booked into custody Friday, before he posted $10,000 bond and was released, jail records show.

Duron was the district’s Defensive Player of the Year last season while also handling his team's punting and placekicking duties. The suspect, who is also on the school's wrestling team, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.

Edinburg is a city of roughly 100,000 people just north of the U.S.-Mexico border.