(This story has been updated and fact checked from its original publication.)

On the Friday night of Centreville High School’s homecoming week, the Wildcats’ football game against Washington-Liberty High School that was originally meant to bring school spirit and community turned tense after a major fight broke out between students near the front entrances and food stands at the school stadium, which involved people that didn’t even attend either Centreville or Washington-Liberty.

Student Resource Officer Eric Davis and Principal Dr. Erik Healey confirmed that not all of the people involved in the fight went to either school, prompting much concern regarding security measures during football games, as people that weren’t students at either high school played a role in the fight. Both Davis and Healey have clarified that luckily, no weapons were involved in this fight, with Davis describing the altercation instead as “a violent fist fight.”  An ambulance was called in as well, although both have also said that it was for “a separate medical emergency,” meaning that the fight did not cause the ambulance to arrive.

In the two regular season home games that had followed homecoming weekend, Centreville High School administration put in new policies regarding the influx of fans to the stadium on gameday, with Healey describing that students had to “show either a student ID or they can show us their SIS account” for clarification that they were “from one of the two participating schools,” and the only exception to this policy was that students from other high schools that wanted to attend these games could only bring their parents for supervision. The no re-entry policy was reinforced, along with a changed ticket booth policy, which Healey admitted was one cause of the problem, since the booth previously remained open during halftime, under the assumption that students would be allowed in even if they arrived late. The ticket booth policy was restricted to close at kickoff time and remained closed throughout the game, barring any late arrivers from entry. 

But now with the postseason occurring this Friday, there comes a lot of new factors to put into place; far more media coverage, collegiate scouts from across the country, and interest from not just people among the Wildcat community, but across Fairfax County and effectively all of Northern Virginia. This widespread media attention now must come into question just how Centreville will change their security policy in order to accommodate this influx of anticipation and attendees whilst still trying to keep the football games safe. 

And this security policy especially must be taken into consideration, as the Wildcats have clinched the Concorde District’s #1 seed, regular season district title (their first trophy in 11 years), and the #1 seed overall in the region, giving them home-field advantage all throughout regionals, from the quarter-finals to the final, due to having more VHSL power points than the Liberty District champions, Yorktown High School, who also went unbeaten in district play.

Healey has stated that administration had been “evaluating the processes that we’ve put into place for the last two home games,” and that “whether or not we need to make any adjustments for the postseason,” noting that people “want to watch good football.” Healey claims that the new policies during the last two regular season games were successful. In the home game against James Madison, there were reports of one fight but only between two students, and he says that security was able to calm the fight much quicker than the fight during homecoming, largely due to the smaller scale of the fight in comparison to reportedly eight or nine people during the homecoming violence, according to Healey. Otherwise, the home game against South Lakes reported no instances of violence. Healey has said that the school has a more firm control of fan attendance during regular season games, compared to the postseason.

With all of this new postseason hype, anticipation, and attention in mind, Dr. Healey has announced the following policies regarding security:

• Students that currently attend either Centreville High School or their opponent must show StudentVUE or Student ID, and will be required to check into a location, where they will be given a wristband displaying their association with their respective school, and they will be required to wear it at all times whilst in the stadium. They will be asked to leave if they do not have the wristband on them at all times.
• Students that do not attend either high school competing in a playoff game will be required to stay with their parents or guardians. If they don’t bring their parents or guardians with them they will be denied attendance outright. They will also be required to wear a wristband that identifies them as a student not attending either Centreville or their opponent. If they don’t wear a wristband, they will be asked to leave.
• The OpenGate metal detector that is usually used for admitting students into the school will also be used as a security barrier to the stadium, and all people entering will be required to go through; students, family, staff, friends, scouts, media personnel; everyone will be required to pass through the weapons detection system.
• The no re-entry ticket booth policy will still be in place, like it has throughout the season.

Healey has now also informed about a new policy involving police officers. Healey explains that during the regular season there were about 4 police officers stationed in the stadium, specifically in pairs. Healey admits that since these officers were in pairs, they were not able to enforce security as effectively as they had wanted, especially during the fight at homecoming. Healey now says that these officers will be split, with only one officer being stationed at designated “hot-spots,” places that administrators think students will most likely engage in fights. Healey has not disclosed the exact number of officers that will be stationed at the school, but he has said it will be at least four.

Healey has expressed optimism regarding these policies that they will protect students and their families to attend football games more safely, and with further deliberation with FCPS administrators county-wide, will hopefully ensure that all kinds of issues regarding violence during high school football games will be taken into a more genuine account than ever.

Centreville hosts 8th-seeded Liberty team George C. Marshall on Friday, November the 14th, at 7:00pm ET, at home.