Two members of a state championship-winning high school football team in Pennsylvania will be barred from extra-curricular activities for a year, including football, after they posted a racially insensitive video on social media following their victory.

Southern Columbia’s sixth straight state title was marred when reports of a TikTok video and signage from a pep rally for the Tigers’ PIAA Class 2A final against Westinghouse appeared online.

Late Monday afternoon, the Southern Columbia School District announced that the students in the TikTok videos on the bus ride home from the game would be suspended from participation in any extra-curricular activities fo one calendar year.

A similar video emerged following Belle Vernon’s win in the Class 3A game. The popular TikTok trend begins with members of teams looking sad or dejected as if they lost the championship. Then the video shifts into a celebration along with a voiceover of a song that says “Gotcha,” and is followed by a racial slur.

Southern Columbia is a rural school in central Pennsylvania that is predominantly white. Westinghouse is the first Pittsburgh City League team reach the state finals since the late 1980s. The school is predominantly made up of Black students.

The executive director of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athlete Association (PIAA) Dr. Robert Lombardi called the news of Southern’s video and signs “tremendously disappointing,” noting they occurred away from the site of the state championships. 

“We were forwarded the information, the one video and the photos,” Lombardi said. “We contacted the principal of Southern Columbia and submitted those items to him. We asked him to do an investigation right away, give us the results and the actions that he’s taken.”

In addition to the suspension from extracurricular activities, the Southern Columbia students have also received in-school discipline in accordance with our district’s handbook, school officials said.

“Our investigation also found that the video posted by one of our players was part of a disturbing viral TikTok trend. Although other teams in our state and in other states have posted similar videos, including the 3A (Belle Vernon) PIAA State Champions, the video posted by one of our players is wholly unacceptable,” the school district said in a Facebook post on Monday afternoon. “The students responsible for the video have received school discipline in accordance with our student handbook. Additionally, action was taken to disqualify these students from participation in any extra-curricular activities for a period of one calendar year.”

The district also determined that the signs at the off-campus prep rally on Dec. 8 — the day before the football game — were not intended to carry racial connotations. One of the signs said “Whip Westinghouse” and depicted an image of a whip. Another sign read “Southern State of Mind.”

“Several of the slogans showcased as part of this community event were used in previous competitions across different years, sports, and opponents; some were copied from media headlines of previous years’ state title wins,” the district reported Monday. “While it may not have been the intent to communicate racially insensitive messaging, we recognize that these messages may have still been hurtful to others. The district will be instituting additional social training programs highlighting ways to avoid language that has the potential to be misinterpreted or insensitive.”

Southern Columbia beat Westinghouse, 37-22, in the Class 2A state title. It was Southern Columbia’s sixth consecutive state title — breaking the program’s own record — and 13th title since 1994.