Crime & Safety

Assault Charge Dismissed Against Centennial Assistant Football Coach

The charge stemmed from an on-field fight during a rivalry game on Sept. 21.


The Howard County State's Attorney's office declined to prosecute an assault case involving a Centennial High School assistant football coach that stemmed from an on-field fight during a Sept. 21 football game against Mt. Hebron.

Matthew Winger, the assistant coach, was accused by Shane Snyder, the father of Mt. Hebron quarterback Jake Snyder, of pushing Jake down during a fight that broke out on the field in the first quarter of the football game. Snyder claimed the push caused Jake to break his wrist, an injury that ended his 2013 season.

On Tuesday, prosecutors determined there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute Winger and dismissed the case at Howard County District Court, according to Winger's attorney Michael G. DeHaven.

"I would like to thank the Office of the State's Attorney for its thorough investigation and obviously for the conclusion that Mr. Winger did not commit a crime," stated DeHaven.

Winger told the Howard County Times shortly after the incident he never intended to harm any of the players, just break up the fight.

"
This entire situation is very unfortunate, and it saddens me," said Winger, according to the report. "My intentions of coming on the field were to break up a fight among players to assure all kids were safe."



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