Texas Football Player Charged With Assault After Hitting Referee

One of the leading players of a South Texas high school football team was charged with assault after he hit a referee on Thursday evening.

Emmanuel Duron, 18, was booked into the Hildalgo County jail on Friday, December 4, on an assault charge. He is being held on a $10,000 bond.

The incident started on an Edinburg, Texas, football field during a playoff game between Edinburg High School and Pharr-San Juan Alamo High School. Referee Fred Garcia ejected Duron, a senior defensive lineman for Edinburg, from the game for unsportsmanlike conduct.

After the call was made, Duron rushed back on the field and knocked over Garcia. The 59-year-old referee was on the ground for several minutes before he was able to stand up. Medical personnel at the game examined Garcia for potential injuries and a concussion. The referee did not return to the game.

Duron was escorted out of the stadium by four Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District police officers.

Edinburg High won the game, 35-21, against Pharr-San Juan Alamo, but the district is removing the team from the playoffs because of what happened, The Monitor reported.

Texas Association of Sports Officials and University Interscholastic League, which oversees public high school sports in Texas, said in a statement on Friday that the organizations will be investigating the incident.

“On the evening of Dec. 3, 2020, another vicious and deliberate assault was inflected on a TASO Football Official by a player who had just been ejected from the contest. Unfortunately, this type of blind-sided assault on an official while working on the field is not new to Texas Football,” TASO said in a statement.

Photo: Hidalgo County Records