Fight, Stampede Suspend Charity Football Game Midway Through In Marple

MARPLE, PA — A charity football game featuring Delaware County's high school all-stars ended early after a disturbance involving dozens of youths in attendance, police said.

The 49th-annual Hero Bowl All-Star Game showcased Delco's top high school football players Thursday evening at Cardinal O'Hara High School in Marple Township.

Five minutes into the third quarter, several kids started fighting at the base of the main entrance steps, said Marple Police Chief Brandon M. Graeff.

Officers at the game got it under control pretty quickly, Graeff said. But as it got sorted out, dozens of kids gathered by the concession stand for an "impromptu stampede" toward the woods, he said.

"I was actually standing very close by when it unfolded," Graeff said. "I didn't hear or see anything that would cause it. But one officer later told me he heard what he thought was a bottle rocket or similar-type firework."

Officials stopped the game, and players got to the sidelines so order could be restored, Graeff said. The stampede withered on its own, and no people or objects encroached the field or stands.

"Thanks to the dozens of police officers in attendance, order was indeed restored with no injuries or arrests taking place," Graeff said.

But with daylight dwindling and the crowd remaining large, the game was ended at that moment because of public-safety concerns.

The Hero Bowl is an annual all-star game featuring more than 90 high school football players from Delco schools. Proceeds support the Delaware County Hero Scholarship Fund, which provides scholarships for children of fallen police, firefighters and emergency responders.

Dozens of officers from different towns attended the game and helped with crowd control.

Despite the game ending early, players were still honored on the field with their families.

"Since every one of these boys was playing in his last high school football game, and the last one that many of them will ever play again, we did not want them or their families to be robbed of their entire experience," Graeff said. "So, parents and players still gathered on the field to have their moment with their sons."