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‘Safety Concerns’ Move Tate Vs. PHS Football Game To Saturday Morning At Tate
August 30, 2022
Friday night’s schedule Tate Aggies at Pensacola High School football game has been moved to 9 a.m. Saturday at Tate High School.
According to an email from Escambia School Superintendent Tim Smith, the game was moved to Tate High School due to safety concerns shared by local law enforcement.
Escambia County Public Schools spokesperson Cody Strother said there were some “neighborhood issues” that spilled over into the stands last week at the PHS at Washington game. “We are just trying to be proactive and do what’s best.”
“There were several incidents and fights following the PHS and Washington game last week,” Pensacola Police Department spokesman Officer Greg Gordon told us. “We support (the school district’s) safety concerns, and this will let things cool off.”
Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Commander Andrew Hobbs said there will be extra deputies at Saturday morning’s game.
“Now that it has been moved into the county, we will have a presence there and ensure everyone’s safety,” he said.
The scheduled Friday, September 9 Pensacola at Pine Forest game has moved to 9 a.m. Saturday, September 10 at Pine Forest.
Pictured: Game action at last Friday night’s Tate at Pine Forest game. NorthEscambia.com photo by Jennifer Repine, click to enlarge.
Comments
18 Responses to “‘Safety Concerns’ Move Tate Vs. PHS Football Game To Saturday Morning At Tate”
Being at Tate from 1980-84 during the glory days marching with the Showband and my brother being on the football team we just had to deal with a pig being released on the field for homecoming! Lol.. Here in Atlanta several schools have had to move some games to Saturday as well due to same issues! You have to go through metal detectors and no purses, back packs etc. are allowed! It’s a shame to see this happening!!
@Josh, that didn’t happen.
When I played for Tate, our coach required us to put on our helmets (while on the bus) when we were within one mile of PHS. The neighborhood would pelt our bus windows with rocks. Sure don’t miss that.
Thank you to all the people who work to keep us safe.
It is insane to me that this incident happened on Washington’s property yet there are no changes, consequences, or safety concerns for their games. A police officer told me on site, that night, that the issues came mostly from Pine Forest students, and several Washington students, but very minimal from PHS. People love to scapegoat the inner-city school, but I was on the PHS side all night, and everything was perfectly calm where we were. Please don’t make accusations about PHS and start talking about season forfeits when this was very much a Washington problem. Meanwhile, an injured PHS player had to wait an unnecessary amount of time that night for an ambulance, because someone else left the only ambulance nearby amidst the fights.
This is crazy! Why do this to those athletes! There’s been fights for years and there wasn’t much concern then! To top it off it’s football season for little league! So now parents have to choose between their younger childrens games and their high schoolers games being on the same day. This isn’t a smart move. Just increase your Leo on Friday night lights! It’s not highschool football without it
To all those people from Cracktown, Ohio saying ‘this is paradise’,, and the idiots that rave about this ‘quiet little beach town’ ….. here’s your reality check. Just another southern city with drugs, crime and violence…. that happens to be near the Gulf. Things are just getting worse, with too many moving here because of what it was 30 years ago. Those days are never coming back.
Take the advise of law enforcement. They see more, do more, than the average person can imagine. You know there are thugs coming in after the cops leave to start shooting. So, use the sun. Get rid of the bad people. Have more cameras & catch the people cauing the problems. Then go to the school, find the thugs & send them to Century Correctional. Mobile had to use cameras & caught the thugs. Now, they are back have games at night.
Pretty sad state of affairs.
The game has to be moved out of concerns for safety.
This is sad that this game had to be moved to a Saturday morning. I remember back when I played that we fed off the Friday night lights as well as the crowd. There’s an “issue” down around PHS. When my oldest played(Tate) in/around 2008-2010 I remember one such time we played PHS at their stadium there was always “issues” in the neighboring community around the stadium and shots were fired. Seems the person responsible ran onto the school grounds during the game and we were held in the stands while they looked for those responsible. I know it’s not everyone that lives in/around that stadium causing the problems but I didn’t feel safe down there by any means. Yes, there’s problems in every area of our great city/county but that down there (PHS) is something that needs to be fixed. Sad that we are in the times we are in and how it affects these squads that look forward to Friday Night Lights but we all need to stand up against those causing the issues. Good luck to both teams Saturday morning. I will be in the stands cheering on the Aggies…thank you William at NorthEscambia for always giving us the news as soon as you get it…
It seems that something is terribly wrong when you can’t play a game without LEO’s on scene. Maybe there should be more respect instilled in these youths at home and you wouldn’t need to have such a large LE presence.
Thank you NorthEscambia for providing, fast, accurate and complete information. Other media was like NorthEscambia.com is reporting cause they had no idea.
And you provided complete information talking to the city and county law enforcement and the school district.
So, changing the venue cancels the threat? It’s Labor Day weekend. Families have plans. This should be a forfeit for PHS. Ridiculous. Cheerleaders, players, refs, band members all are expected to show up. If PHS can’t deal with the threat, it’s a forfeit.
Players only at games
I’m sorry, but what exactly are “neighborhood issues?”
This story says the previous week’s game was at Washington High School. So, how were the “neighborhood issues” coming from PHS?
I’m all for moving the game if it makes the event safer for everyone, but the story just doesn’t seem to justify why the game is being moved from PHS (if the problem was at Washington HS) to Tate HS.
Regardless, I sure hope the community can get back to enjoying the kids competing and giving us good reasons to get back together on a Friday night.
If the problem happens again and it’s PHS fans causing it, cancel their season until people can be civilized at a GAME! Sucks for the kids but if enough folks get upset about their child’s season being ruined maybe some names will start being mentioned instead of “I ain’ seen nuffin” like the normal.
For most parents, this will be the highlight of their child’s sporting career.
Maybe don’t ruin the moments with petty behavior one would expect from toddlers.
Sounds like not enough officers at the First game. I remember when sides were not allowed to mingle like they do these days. Maybe keep sides separated to alleviate future skirmishes