by Jeff Fisher, High School Football America
High School Football America has been in contact with Victor Bates, the Lakewood High School (California) football player, who was kicked in the head during Friday night’s game against Long Beach Millikan.
Video of the incident, first posted on CoachFore.org, shows Bates being kick by a Millikan player #29 (white) after his helmet came-off. No penalty was called.
Bates told me he has a chipped tooth in the back of his mouth on his right side and has had trouble sleeping, since the incident because of the pain. He says he still hasn’t gone to the dentist, but will.
As far as where he was kicked, Bates says he was kicked directly on the chin.
When asked if he thought the kick was intentional, Bates told me via a Direct Message on Twitter, “yes, and a reason I know it was intentional, is because after the game we were shaking hands and he hit me in the face mask in a violent way. He just hit me and ran off.”
High School Football America has placed a call to Lakewood head coach Jimmy Nolan.
Earlier, our partners at USA TODAY High School Sports reported that the Millikan Facebook page stated that a member of the Bates family entered the Millikan locker room after the game and attacked four players.
Related: USA TODAY High School Sports report on alleged locker room attack
Bates has not commented on that report.
On Monday, USA TODAY High School Sports also contacted the Lakewood Police Department, who said they were unaware of the incident.
As far as where we go from here, I contacted the CIF-Southern Section office, the local governing body for the two schools, to find-out if it will get involved in the situation. The answer is no, because no player was ejected from the game. Thom Simmons, Director of Communications for the CIF-SS, says disciplinary action, if any is taken, will have to come from Millikan.
The Lakewood-Millikan game is a rivalry game with the team’s battling for the Hamilton Trophy. Lakewood won Friday night’s game 34-14. Millikan hasn’t beaten Lakewood since 2001.
