Mountain View High School Forfeits League Title Game After Social Media Post Leads to Player Suspensions

Mountain View High School in El Monte forfeited its Conference 12 League championship football game scheduled for Thursday night after five players were suspended over a social media post that school officials deemed inappropriate.

The post, which surfaced online after Mountain View’s 14-0 win over Rosemead High School last week, showed several Mountain View players pretending to make gun gestures with their hands, according to Fred Robledo of the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

Mountain View head coach Mark Paredes said school officials determined the post was dangerous and that the players involved should have known better.

“It was an inappropriate post and our players should be better. Our school determined it was a dangerous post. You shouldn’t be making gun gestures,” Paredes said.

The win over Rosemead had been Mountain View’s first in 40 years, setting up what was supposed to be a celebratory week heading into the championship matchup.

“It’s too bad. We should have been celebrating our first win over Rosemead in 40 years and getting ready to play for a (league) championship game. Instead, we’re talking about this and not playing a game. It’s a hard lesson to learn,” Paredes said.

Paredes also said Rosemead players had made a gun gesture on social media before the game, and suggested his players’ post afterward was a response to that. That claim has not been confirmed.

School officials cited safety concerns in deciding to forfeit rather than risk further incident. Paredes said the team also lacked the depth to field a competitive squad without the five suspended players, all of whom started on both sides of the ball.

“We’re not a deep roster. You take five two-way starters away, it completely depletes us. It’s a real tough lesson to learn. Our kids come from tough neighborhoods, and they deal with a lot of obstacles, and this was a big opportunity for them. It is what it is. They will learn from it,” Paredes told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

The forfeit hands the league championship to Arroyo High School, which finished the regular season 6-4. Mountain View ends the regular season 3-7 but had already secured a guaranteed spot in the playoffs before Thursday’s forfeited game.