Miami high school football playoff game ends early due to gunfire

Video: Honoring J.J. Clavo
Sacramento team and community honors player killed by gunfire before playoff game.

A week after a high school football player in California was killed by gunfire before a playoff game, a postseason contest in south Florida ended early due to more bullets on Friday.

Luckily, no one was struck by these.

The playoff contest between Miami squads Carol City (Miami) and Central (Miami) was halted at Traz Powell Stadium with 2:58 left in the fourth quarter. Central led the game 36-8.



According to Miami Herald high school sports staff writer Andre C. Fernandez, spectators ran from the stands while players and coaches ducked for cover when they heard gunshots from a distance.

Coaches yelled at players to duck for cover and the field was cleared. Apparently no one was struck.

"You hate to see anything like that happen, but luckily it seems like no one was hurt," Central coach Roland Smith told Fernandez.

According to Miami Fox station WSVN-TV, five suspects were taken into custody for gun shots fired in the area. It is unclear if the shots were fired inside the stadium.

On Nov. 13, four unarmed Grant (Sacramento, Calif.) players were returning by car to school from a food run, three hours before a scheduled playoff game, when assailants sprayed their car with gunfire.

Jaulon Clavo, a starting cornerback, was struck in the neck and later died, and a teammate Malik Johnson was wounded in the arm.



The game that night was postponed and played Monday, where a near-capacity crowd paid tribute to Clavo while Grant won a first-round Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoff game 35-0.

"These senseless shootings have got to stop," Grant team pastor Tommie Williams told the Sacramento Bee that night. "There's nothing but hurt. Pain. Disbelief."

Grant returns to the field Saturday to host longtime SJS rival Granite Bay in quarterfinal play.