Boys' Latin plays 1st football game since Roxborough HS shooting
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Boys' Latin Charter varsity football team is playing its first game since Tuesday's deadly shooting behind Roxborough High School, where five football players were shot after a scrimmage.
There has been a sense of sorrow, trauma and uneasiness over the past three days since the shooting happened outside Roxborough High School. The shooting happened after a scrimmage between Roxborough, Northeast Philadelphia High School and Boys' Latin.
Friday's game was a step toward normalcy.
On Assignment @CBSPhiladelphia / Boys Latin High School Football is back on the field for their first game after this week’s tragic shooting that took the life of a 14 year old teammate/ we are Live w @HughesCBS3 / 📷 @storyrd pic.twitter.com/gbo1jjeLMJ
— Brad Nau (@storyrd) September 30, 2022
More students arrived after school was out for the day, going through security and getting their bags checked.
There is security at the game. Several school safety officers and the Philadelphia Police Department are there.
The game is against Martin Luther King High School.
It was moved from 7 p.m. to 3 p.m.
The director of athletics says that's because of a prior conflict.
But Boys' Latin was part of the scrimmage Tuesday afternoon when five shooters ambushed football players walking off the field near Roxborough High.
Five teens were hit and 14-year-old Nicholas Elizalde died.
Parents say it's important for both, them and the players to be at the game Friday.
"I think it's great," Jenae Dix said. "I think they need support. I think as parents and friends and family, of these boys, they need community and we need to stand together and stay together. They should be able to do after-school activities without having to worry about losing their lives."