There will be a Division I Detroit Public Schools League championship football game between King and Cass Tech on Friday night at Ford Field, after all.
Detroit King quarterback Armani Posey, right, is pushed out of bounds short of the end zone by Cass Tech on Sept. 26, 2015.
One day after declaring the championship game between King and Cass Tech a forfeit victory for Cass Tech, DPS officials reversed their decision today and will allow King to play, a person familiar with the situation told the Free Press. The DPS has yet to make an official announcement about the game being back on.
Unbeaten King, ranked No. 1 in Division 2 in the state, had been suspended Monday by PSL director of athletics Alvin Ward, following a postgame brawl at its 20-2 semifinal win over Detroit Cody on Friday.
King parents, coaches and players met with DPS emergency manager Darnell Earley this morning at the Fisher Building and pleaded their case.
The Cass-King game will be played at 7 p.m., following the 4 p.m. Division II championship game between Northwestern and Central.
King defeated Cass Tech, 31-28 in overtime, in Week 5.
The melee erupted when Cody coach Calvin Norman took his players to the King sideline to shake hands after the game. King coach Dale Harvel, sensing trouble in the waning moments of the game, instructed his players to remain on the sideline and not shake hands.
A Cody player allegedly sucker-punched a King player, and a wild altercation ensued. DPS security needed pepper spray to break up the fight.
Harvel insisted that his players merely were defending themselves when they were attacked by the Cody players, but Ward ruled that it was an overreaction.
Originally, players from both teams were suspended from school for three days. Cody’s season has been declared over, and the Comets will not play this week. Norman and his entire coaching staff are indefinitely suspended.
Contact Mick McCabe: 313-223-4744 or mmccabe@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mickmccabe1.