Football official says he was punched by Goddard player at end of playoff game

A high school football official has filed a police report and wants to press charges after he says he was punched in the stomach by a Goddard player as the Lions’ Class 5A playoff game with visiting Heights ended Friday night.

Ryan Storck, the official, said he filed a report with the city of Goddard’s police department Monday afternoon.

Storck would not identify the player to The Eagle. He said police told him not to reveal it.

“I know the name. I know the (uniform) number. I’m not allowed to release that because he may be a minor,” Storck said.

On the final play of the game, which was won by Heights 41-27 to advance in the 5A playoffs, there was an altercation between players from both teams near the Heights sideline.

The player who punched Storck “was facing me because I had my back toward the Heights sideline,” Storck said. “He was yelling at the Heights players.… There was some dialogue between Heights players and him. The other officials were trying to get the Heights players away.”

He said the rest of his officiating crew had their backs to him as they tried to move the Heights players back to their coaches.

Storck said his shoulders were square with the Goddard player’s shoulders. He called the maneuver to separate the athletes as “rodeo clowning,” standing between the two groups.

“That’s when he decided, as the police report will say, ‘Get the… off me.’ He threw a punch,” said Storck, who has been an official for five years. “He did it as he was turning to go back to the (Goddard) sideline.

“There’s zero question it was a punch.… I’ve been doing this a while. I know the difference between players getting mad, flailing (their arms), and a punch.”

Storck said he was hunched over as the player went to the Goddard sideline.

“It was on the final play… our job is for player safety,” he said. “We wanted to make sure a fight didn’t happen amongst players.”

Goddard coach Scott Vang said he didn’t see the incident because it occurred on the far side of the field.

“Some kids squared off. I don’t think it was anything major. I didn’t see it.… The officials split them up,” Vang said.

When asked if a Goddard player punched an official, Vang said, “To my knowledge, that did not happen.”

Goddard principal Doug Bridwell said: “I believe one of the officials separating the players got the wind knocked out of him.”

As for discipline, Bridwell said, “We’ve handled the issue on that end. That player will be dealt with on that standpoint.… We have a district policy for sportsmanship.”

Bridwell said he wasn’t allowed to comment on how the student would be disciplined due to confidentiality.

Storck said he was questioned Friday in the locker room following the game by a woman who identified herself as being with the Goddard school district. Goddard’s school district has its own police department that is separate from the city of Goddard. Storck didn’t know if she was connected to the district’s police department.

He was asked if he wanted to press charges against the Goddard player, and Storck initially declined.

“I hadn’t had a chance to even think if I wanted to press charges,” he said. “She said, ‘You can always do it later.’ I said, ‘Then at this time, I don’t want to.’ ”

He talked to his officiating supervisors. “I wanted to see what they said,” Storck said.

Asked why he decided to press charges Monday, Storck mentioned recent cases where high school officials in other states have been assaulted by athletes.

“This can’t be tolerated,” Storck said. “This is becoming a problem or, if it’s not a problem, I don’t want it to become a problem. It has to be out that, as officials, we are held to a high standard of how we’re supposed to act and conduct ourselves.

“But at the same time, it doesn’t mean that we still have to take it because we are officials. That’s not what we’re paid for.”

Mark Lentz, assistant executive director of the Kansas State High School Activities Association, said he was contacted by the officials. Officials are expected to file an unusual situation report after an incident like Friday.

“It’s required to be in to us the night of the game or the next day,” Lentz said. “… We want to work with the school. We want to work with the official.

“We will work with all parties and let the process play itself out. We are not the police.”

This story was originally published November 9, 2015 at 9:09 PM with the headline "Football official says he was punched by Goddard player at end of playoff game."