High school stunt starts debate: rivalry or racist?

CAMBRIDGE CITY, IN (WTXF) - A rivalry between two high school football teams may have gone too far this weekend.

On Friday night, Cambridge City Lincoln High School in Cambridge, Indiana played Tri-High in the second round of sectionals.

Parents from Lincoln hung a dummy filled with candy in the team's locker room, according to FOX 59.

The dummy was clad in a #28 Tri-High jersey.

The Tri-High Titans star player wears that number and he is African-American.

A Lincoln fan took a photo of the dummy and sent it to a Tri-High fan; it then circulated on social media sites.

The Assistant Superintendent of Wester Wayne School District, of which Lincoln High School is located, released a statement saying in part, "Only after the picture was sent out did the Lincoln supporters learn that the number on the Tri-High uniform was that of an African American student. It clearly was not the thought or intent of the Lincoln supporters or football players that this incident was anything more than a school rivalry. This incident was not racially motivated."

According to FOX 59, some fans disagreed, believing it to be racist.

"Parents? That's even more shocking. If in fact that's the case then the parents shouldn't be allowed to come over here all year, period," Dave Southerland said to FOX 59.

"I think it's harmless myself I think it's blown a little out of proportion by some people. I know several of the boys on the team and I know it wasn't meant the way it's being taken," Frances Moore, a Lincoln fan, said.

Superintendent of Tri-High spoke to FOX 59 and said that Lincoln has apologized to the school, the players, and his family.

Lincoln beat Tri-High 35 -24.