A Texas high school football player who attacked a referee on Thursday night has been charged with assault, jail records show. Emmanuel Duron is facing the misdemeanor charge after video showed him body-slamming an official who ejected him from the game.
Video posted to social media showed the referee ejecting Duron from the game for a personal foul and unsportsmanlike conduct. Seconds later, Duron, a defensive lineman at Edinburgh High School, charged back onto the field and body-slammed the referee, knocking him to the ground. CBS Dallas Fort Worth identified the referee as 59-year-old Fred Garcia.
Duron was then escorted from the stadium by police. Garcia was able to leave the field on his own, but did not return to the game after the hit, CBS DFW reported. He was evaluated for a concussion.
Duron’s team eventually won the game. The victory should have sent them to the playoffs but the team was removed from the playoffs due to the incident, the Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District told the station Friday. “We will take the appropriate disciplinary action once we understand the facts and circumstances underlining this incident,” the district said.
Duron was named the District 31-6A Defensive Player of the Year last season, CBS DFW reported.
The Texas Association of Sports Officials condemned the “vicious and deliberate assault” in a statement, writing that “this type of blind‑sided assault on an official while working on the field is not new to Texas Football.”
