Referee left bloodied after suffering gruesome cut in wild brawl at college football game
A college football referee was left with blood streaming down his face after becoming involved in a wild brawl between East Carolina and NC State on Saturday night.
Players started fighting in the final minute of East Carolina’s 26-21 win in the Military Bowl after a Pirates receiver appeared to wipe a towel from a Wolfpack defender’s waist.
That moment led to a fight that involved more and more players, and as the fight spread, even an official managed to get in a nasty hit.
The referee is said to have been hit by a helmet during the scuffle, with ESPN cameras showing the full extent of the horrific cut he suffered as a result.
He could be seen wiping away the blood as it trickled down his face before his fellow officials came to his aid and tried to get him clean.
It took about a full minute to get the situation under control, and about eight minutes before the ball could be taken again for a final kneel.
A college football referee suffered a gruesome cut when players scuffled Saturday night
“I’m embarrassed as a coach,” NC State coach Dave Doeren said. ‘I know our players are too. That’s not how the people of this program, the players of this program, the staff of this program, want to have anything to do with something like that.
“For me it was a terrible reaction to something that happened to one of our players, and there are no excuses for that. Therefore, I apologize to ECU and their team for the way we responded.”
“I obviously didn’t like the last part of the game,” Pirates coach Blake Harrell said. ‘There is no room for that in sports.’
In the game itself, Rahjai Harris broke away for an 86-yard touchdown run with 1:33 remaining, giving East Carolina a pulsating 26-21 win over NC State.
Harris had 220 of ECU’s 326 yards rushing, and his sensational sprint late in the game gave the Pirates (8-5) the lead back after blowing a 13-point lead in the fourth.