Grambling’s 31-23 victory over Bethune-Cookman was briefly overshadowed by a chaotic on-field brawl that erupted shortly after halftime. The Tigers carried a 24-20 lead into the third quarter when tensions on the sideline suddenly boiled over into a full melee.
Video from the scene showed Grambling defensive back Xhane Williams throwing a swing at Bethune-Cookman defensive end Isaiah Washburn, knocking off his helmet as several Grambling players appeared to chase him toward the field. Coaches and officials rushed to separate the teams amidst the commotion.
Following the game, Grambling head coach Mickey Joseph, still animated from the incident, condemned what he described as blatant disrespect from the opposing sideline.
“When you play here, you gotta make sure as a coach, support staff, anyone, that all your players come down,” Joseph told the media. “If you’re going to walk down there, and take your time, and now it’s three minutes, three minutes and 30 seconds on the (halftime) clock, and we’re standing on the stairs and you got four or five kids who are just walking down, taking their time, listen guys, at the end of the day I’m thinking, ‘They know what they’re doing.’ They taking their time, so we’re trying to give them their respect.”
Officials issued nine total ejections as a result of the brawl—five players from Grambling and four from Bethune-Cookman. All were barred from the second half and are expected to face further suspension under SWAC conduct policies.
Joseph doubled down when pressed about his team’s involvement.
“So by the time, we gotta go … we can’t wait on two players,” said Joseph, whose Tigers climbed to 7-3 on the season with the victory. “But they should never leave their players. Who leaves their players? Who leaves their players over there knowing that we had to come down?
“But see, that’s what I’m talking about. That’s the disrespect stuff. And we’re not going to tolerate disrespect here at Grambling. You won’t disrespect us. We’re going to meet disrespect with disrespect, because be responsible, get your kids out the locker room, make ’em get to the field. They came down on the field, they walked on the field. That’s disrespecting the game, first of all. That’s my perspective and I told them after the game, I said, ‘You can’t leave your kids up there. You can’t leave your kids up there.’ We talked. I know we’re going to hear from my A.D., he’ll talk to his A.D. I told him, I said, ‘If they fine us, then you know what … ‘”