Harlem sets new rules for football game attendance after last Friday’s massive fight

MACHESNEY PARK, Ill. (WTVO) — Harlem High School officials have released a set of new rules for all attendees of games at Peterson Stadium after a large fight on Friday resulted in multiple arrests and a large police response.

“Our entire leadership collaborated on this. We got some input from coaches, players, parents. Really, what we want to do is to enhance the experience of the people who are coming to the game to see what the game is, to see the band, to see the cheerleaders, see the dancers, to see the players,” said Harlem High School Principal Jeremy Bois. “We want that experience to be the best experience possible. So if someone’s coming for something other than that, that’s just not what we’re doing.”

According to information shared by Harlem Fans Club, the official fan club of Harlem athletics, all high school-age attendees are required to present an identification card from Harlem or a visiting school; no one under 18 will be admitted after 8 p.m. or the end of the first quarter; students will be required to be in the stands, and are not permitted behind the bleachers or near the ticket booth; only medical masks are allowed as face coverings; and all visiting students and fans are required to enter through the south end ticket booth.

Previously existing rules still apply, which restrict backpacks and allow for the search of any other type of bag; no re-entry once a student leaves the stadium; and all Harlem students are required to have at least 70 Huskie Points in order to attend any extracurricular event.

“So we want to make sure that if you’re not here for the game, if you’re not here for all of those things I mentioned, then you should go somewhere else. We tend not to have the same amount of people who come to other events kind of just to hang out,” said Bois. “Most people come to the other events for the events. For whatever reason, football seems to be an event where people come in addition to the event and we just don’t want that to happen.”

“We do have added game day personnel and we will have more presence from law enforcement. We will have more deputies from the sheriff’s department coming through on patrol. We’re extra mindful of what’s going on,” said Bois. “Again, what we want to do is to enhance that fan experience. We do feel we’ve got some magic out there under the Friday night lights and it’s a lot of fun and we want people to experience that.”

Harlem will play Hononegah this Friday, September 13th, at 5 p.m.

On Friday, police were called to Huskie Stadium during the 3rd quarter, around 9:27 p.m., after a large fight broke out between individuals at the game.

According to Harlem Principal Jeremy Bois, two teens began fighting during the football game between the Harlem Huskies and Auburn Knights, and other students crowded the area and began fighting, and the “situation became volatile,” prompting a massive police response.

According to eyewitnesses, panicked onlookers began fleeing the stadium after what Bois said was a “false report of a firearm.”

Bois reported students fighting with both staff and responding police.

Four teens were arrested and then released to their parents, according to the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office.

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