Crime & Safety

Assistant Coach Charged with Assault after Mt. Hebron/ Centennial Football Fight

A father says his son fractured his wrist after being pushed from behind by the coach during an on-field fight between the two teams.


An assistant coach for the Centennial High School Football team has been charged with second-degree assault after being accused of fracturing a Mt. Hebron player's wrist during an on-field fight in the first quarter of a Sept. 21 rivalry game.

Shane Snyder, the father of the player, pressed charges against the assistant coach, Matt Winger, of Columbia. A Howard County District Court Commissioner issued the second-degree assault charge and ordered Winger to appear at a trial in District Court on Dec. 3.

Assistant coaches from both teams entered the field after a fight broke out during the first quarter of the game. Two players and one assistant coach from each team were ejected during the game and were forced to sit out the next game, The Howard County Times reported.

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

Snyder was quoted in charging documents as saying that during the altercation, "Mr. Winger came onto the field and violently pushed my son [name redacted] onto the ground from the side and behind causing [him] to land on his right hand and arm. This caused a severe fracture to his wrist requiring a 16-week casting... followed by extensive physical therapy."

The game was Mt. Hebron's homecoming and the two schools are crosstown rivals. 

"It's good to have rivalries, but they should be friendly rivalries," said Centennial athletics and activities manager Jean Vanderpool, after the game, according to the Howard County Times.

Vanderpool could not be immediately reached on Wednesday afternoon. Jeannie Prevosto, athletics and activities manager for Mt. Hebron, declined to comment on the charge on Wednesday and asked that questions be directed to the Board of Education.

There was no answer at a number listed for Centennial's coach Todd Kriner on Wednesday afternoon.


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