More News

Principals at Watkins Mill and Clarksburg high schools have met with student leaders in an effort to keep a rivalry from boiling over following several fights after a football game.

One student was issued a disorderly conduct citation following the fights after the game at the Gaithersburg school on Nov. 7. About 1,500 people attended the game and drum line competition that followed, according to Watkins Mill officials.

"I'd say those three things, the game itself, the drum line competition and the parking lot (scuffles) were very separate from my point of view," said Clarksburg Principal James Koutsos.

Several fights broke out among students in the parking lot and police said they fielded three calls from the school in connection with the scuffles. No injuries were reported. Kevin Hobbs, principal of Watkins Mill, estimated three to five additional officers were dispatched to reinforce seven others who were at the game.

Montgomery County Police said they issued a disorderly conduct citation to one Clarksburg student and released him to his parents.

"It was something, but it wasn't a riot or anything like that. I would say it was more like small brush fires," said police spokesman Officer Oliver Janney.

The cause of the disturbance was unclear. Kevin Demeritt of Germantown, a parent of a Clarksburg student, said he was alarmed by the altercations that swirled around him and his family in the parking lot. Demeritt said it wasn't clear whether groups of students from one school were fighting students from the other school. He estimated there were 50 to 60 students in the lot, some of whom "were just trying to get rides."

"There were enough altercations in the parking lot that evening that we felt unsafe. You had students running all over the place, violent altercations all around you," Demeritt said.

Koutsos and Hobbs said they have taken disciplinary action against one student at each of their schools for their roles in the disturbance. They declined to discuss more details.

Both principals said they were meeting with student government leaders to ensure that the disturbance does not sour relations between the student bodies.