OCOEE, Fla. – Was it offsides or a cheap shot? The last play of a Pop Warner Pee Wee Football championship game ends with rival teams Ocoee Bulldogs and Lake Mary Rams blaming each other for an injured player.
Ocoee Bulldogs coach Ellis Daniley sent News 6 video of the play that he said shows the Lake Mary Rams losing 37-0 and taking a cheap shot instead of taking defeat.
In the video, the referee blew his whistle, but before the quarterback could call the snap, several of the Lake Mary Rams rush forward.
"It was intentional. The ball never snapped, and then boom. This is our third time beating them and I don't think they took the loss very well," Daniley said. "All the years I've been coaching, I've never experienced anything like this."
The video then shows three of the Ocoee Bulldogs on the ground, including Tanya Fulford's 12 year old son, wearing No. 35, who she said suffered a concussion.
"I'm like wait, I don't see 35, so I went down the stands, I looked more and when the kids spread out I saw that's my child and I ran out to the field." Fulford told News 6 outside of her son's doctor's appointment Wednesday. "I watched football for years; there is no way a whole entire line is going to jump offsides. That was clearly a calculated blitz and it was intentional."
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Both Fulford and Daniley are seeking an apology and for the Lake Mary Rams coaching staff to be reprimanded by National Pop Warner Football League, the football association that oversees their league.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Lake Mary Rams responded to the claims. In an email to News 6, a spokesperson said that in no way were the kids told to make illegal contact with the opposing team, calling the play off-sides.
This is was the statement sent by Lake Mary Rams spokesperson Brian Gross:
"We do not offer any excuses as our behavior was inappropriate and lacked the respect our opponent and their organization deserves. We have issued an apology to the opposing team and their association. In addition, and under no instruction, one of the Red team players involved went to their practice and apologized.
"We are available to discuss this matter in an effort to repair the relationship between our organizations and to take measures to prevent events like this from happening again.
"We work hard to provide a safe environment for all kids to play football and it is sad that we had to end the season in this manner."
Gross also said there were some "situational facts" left out of the video Daniley sent to News 6.
"The Lake Mary Rams suffered an injury to a player on a play before the one shown on the video," Gross said. "Several plays before that, a parent from the [Rams] team removed their son from the game after concerns the [Ocoee Bulldogs] was specifically targeting him for injury. Also, the video is cropped to take out the continued taunting one their players did to the [Rams] player."
The National Pop Warner Football Leagues tells News 6 they are investigating the incident.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the injured player's age. This story was later corrected to reflect that he is 12, not 11 years old.