L-L football players, coaches react to helmet-swinging incident: Watch videos

Shock and awe.

When several Lancaster-Lebanon League football coaches and players were asked this week to give their impressions of last Friday night’s Annville-Cleona vs. Hamburg on-field incident — the one with the player taking swats at another player with a helmet, which has now gone completely viral — that was the common theme.

“Horrifying,” Manheim Central coach Mike Williams said. “It was even worse than I anticipated.”

“Discouraging; I was numb when I saw it,” Cocalico coach Dave Gingrich said. “Just an ugly, ugly play.”

“Wow,” Manheim Township coach Mark Evans said, scratching his head. “Wow.”

“Stunned,” Lebanon coach Gerry Yonchiuk said. “To see someone getting smacked with a helmet … that’s pretty scary to see.”

Cocalico senior Casey Kerschner talks about the play, plus the state of today's hard-hitting prep football game:

The play came during the third quarter with Hamburg leading Annville-Cleona 22-10 in a nonleague game last Friday night in Annville.

After a play, there was a skirmish and it quickly escalated when, according to video replays, Hamburg senior Joey Cominsky ripped the helmet off of Annville-Cleona junior Josh Hartman and took multiple swings at Hartman.

The first swing he appears to miss a direct blow; the second swing led to Hartman receiving a cut on his head.

Annville-Cleona coach Terry Lehman said Hartman was able to go back into the game — a game Hamburg won 25-22 on a last-second field goal.

Cocalico senior Zach Eberly talks about the play, plus the state of today's hard-hitting prep football game:

Cominsky and Annville-Cleona senior Taylor Prentice were ejected from the game and, per PIAA rules, are both suspended for this week’s games.

Hamburg principal Christopher Spohn confirmed to PennLive this week that Cominsky will indeed be out Friday when the Hawks take on Northern Lebanon.

Asked if Cominsky will be back for Hamburg’s Week 4 game against Fleetwood, Spohn said he couldn’t comment because at that point, he said, it would be a student punishment issue, and that he couldn’t discuss such matters.

Manheim Central senior Ian Hanselman talks about the play, plus the state of today's hard-hitting prep football game:

Then there’s the police matter. South Annville Township police chief Ben Sutcliffe told multiple media outlets this week that his office is considering pressing charges.

“It will be a very lengthy process, I can tell you that,” Sutcliffe told PennLive on Tuesday. “It is premature at this point to say anything about charges being filed or not being filed.”

Annville-Cleona officials politely declined to comment this week since this is a police issue.

Manheim Central senior Michael Brown talks about the play, plus the state of today's hard-hitting prep football game:

Sutcliffe said later in the week that his office could interview 100 or more people about the incident — an incident, because of video, that has gone global.

Replays of the play popped up online at such locales as Huffington Post, USA Today, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and Deadspin — among others.

“I’ve never seen anything that bad,” Williams said. “I’ve seen a lot of pushing and shoving, and I’ve probably seen kids take a swing or grab a facemask. But I’ve never seen anything as horrific as this.”

“You’re looking at it and you’re like, is he swinging a helmet?” Yonchiuk said. “Is this really happening? I’ve been around a melee or two on the field, including one when I played in high school. But I’ve never seen anyone strip off a kid’s helmet and then swing it at him.

“It’s a bummer that something like that would ever happen in any high school football game anywhere.”

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