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A football player on the Mount San Antonio College team has been arrested after allegedly punching a referee in the middle of a game against Ventura College on Saturday.
According to the Ventura County Star, who first reported on the incident, Mt. SAC offensive lineman Bernard Schirmer struck the referee, who was walking back to the huddle after breaking up a verbal altercation between a few opposing players in the third quarter.
Ventura quarterback Jake Luton told the Star, "I was on the bench talking and I heard everyone going crazy so I jumped up and saw him on the ground," he said. "That’s terrible. There’s no place for that in football."
Schirmer was immediately ejected from the game, and arrested on suspicion of battery of a game official. He was taken to Ventura County jail.
L.A. Daily News reports that Mt. SAC has yet to release a statement, but that a response was initially posted on the team's Twitter account Sunday morning, "suggesting the punch was unintentional and claiming the referee punched was not pressing charges." The statement, which wasn't verified, has since been deleted.
“For those of you unable to attend the game last night, the athlete involved did not intentionally attack the referee,” read the tweet. "The referee was accidentally struck during the scrum while pulling the players off. The referee has decided not to press charges knowing Bernard Schirmer did not intend to hit him."
If that's true, the Star noted that California Community College Athletic Association bylaws dictate that hitting a ref is punishable by a five-year ban.
The video itself is ridiculous; not so much for the actual punch itself, which looked intense, but for the reactions of the broadcasters. Here is a transcript:
Incredulous Broadcaster: OH MY GOD the ref just got punched in the face by a player! WHAT?! Not So Incredulous Broadcaster: Wow.
IB: I've never seen anything like that before in my life!
NSIB: Wow. He is still down on the—"
IB: Ohhhhhhh—
