Pittsburgh-area football coach says team was target of racial slurs during playoff game
LOWER BURRELL, Pa. (KDKA) — A Pittsburgh-area football coach says his players were targets of racial slurs during a playoff game last week.
Burrell coach Shawn Liotta said when he complained to the officiating staff, he was kicked off the field. He said it happened on Nov. 3 in the team's game against Mohawk.
Liotta said players from Mohawk made racial comments to his players during the game. So hurtful, he says, that some of those players came off the field in tears.
"There's no place for racism in society," Liotta said. "There's certainly no place for racism in high school athletics."
Liotta was ejected with 11 seconds left in the first half of the game after walking onto the field to confront the officials.
Liotta said numerous times during the first half of the Class 2A first-round playoff game, he and other coaches on his staff heard Mohawk players taunt some of his players with the N-word.
"We brought up multiple times to the officiating crew during the game that this was going on," Liotta said. "I begged them, I begged them on several occasions can you please address this issue."
Liotta said those pleas to the officials fell on deaf ears. And while some believe Liotta was upset because his team was trailing by 20 points at the time, he said it had nothing to do with the score and everything to do with protecting his kids.
"My duty is to make sure they're protected, to make sure this type of stuff does not occur," Liotta said. "I don't stand for this type of stuff. It needs to be brought to the light just because it happens far too often, it happens every week and nothing ever gets done about it. It gets swept under the rug."
KDKA-TV reached out to the WPIAL, which said Liotta was ejected from the game because he walked onto the field and used profanity when officials threw penalty flags.
In addition, several of his players also were ejected in the second half for unsportsmanlike conduct, which Liotta said was because Mohawk's actions riled them up.
"When I have kids coming off the field in tears before the half, I had to go and address that with the officials," Liotta said.
"I'd do what anybody would do," he added. "When you coach, that's what you do. You care about the kids. We care about their well-being. I would do it again a hundred times over."
The WPIAL has suspended Liotta for the first two games of next season. He said he will appeal.
KDKA-TV reached out to Mohawk's coach but did not hear back.