2 Texas high school football players who tackled ref suspended

MARBLE FALLS, Texas -- Two high school football players who appear to have deliberately tackled a referee during a game Friday night have been suspended from school and the team, school district officials told CBS San Antonio affiliate KENS-TV.

One of the John Jay High School players is seen on video running into the back of the referee as he watched a play, and the other dove into the official. Both took running starts.

It happened in Marble Falls, Texas during a 15-9 win by the home team.

The Northside Independent School District in San Antonio will look into what happened leading up to the play, including potential derogatory racial comments made toward members of Jay's football team, a district official told the station.

"This is disturbing," Northside spokesperson Pascual Gonzalez said as part of the district's official statement. "It is not the sportsmanlike behavior that we teach our students. We are cooperating fully with the University Interscholastic League with this investigation."

Video shows the referee's head snapping back when he is leveled. The other player then piles on.

John Jay High School in San Antonio was playing Marble Falls High School in Marble Falls, about 90 miles north of San Antonio.

Before the referee was hit, two Jay players had been ejected on separate plays.

Gonzalez told The Associated Press earlier Sunday that the district would hear from game officials, coaches and students during an upcoming due process hearing.

"It is not the good sportsmanlike behavior that we teach students," he said.

The incident occurred with approximately a minute left in Friday's game, according to Marble Falls coach Matt Green.

Marble Falls was trying to run out the clock and called for a handoff toward the left side of the line of scrimmage.

The penalties stemming from the incident gave Marble Falls a first down. John Jay lost 15-9.

Marble Falls coach Matt Green said John Jay coach Gary Gutierrez apologized after the game.

"I've coached 14 years and I've never seen anything like it," Green told the San Antonio Express-News.

The referee was "very upset" and "wanting to press charges," Austin Football Officials Association secretary Wayne Elliott told the AP.

Elliott said he was seeking guidance from the state officials association, adding, "The first thing we want is that those two kids never play football again."

He declined to release the referee's name.

KENS quotes Green as saying the actions of the two Jay players were dangerous and ones a coach would never condone.

Green also said, "I think it's unfair to judge the entire Jay football team based on what a couple of people did," Green said, "but with that being said, there was some exceptionally bad behavior from a select few players."

Jay senior quarterback Moses Reynolds, who plays quarterback and wide receiver for the Mustangs, was one of two Jay players ejected prior to the play, KENS reports. Reynolds is the younger brother of Texas A&M junior wide receiver Josh Reynolds and holds scholarship offers from schools such as Baylor, Texas A&M and TCU, the station adds.