Monterey Trail football players suspended after hazing video; coach responds
Just a week before the Elk Grove High School football team came under fire for a hazing incident, a similar event occurred in Monterey Trail High School locker room in which one or more students were taped being assaulted by senior players.
The video, provided to The Sacramento Bee by a source with knowledge of the situation, shows around seven football players pulling the shirt and a shoe off of a younger student, who is on the ground. One player is smacking the underclassman with a rolled up T-shirt as the player who is recording the video talks to the camera. Several football players’ faces are visible in the video.
Seven football players were suspended from school after the video was discovered and were not allowed to play in last Friday’s nonleague home game against Amador Valley of Pleasanton, according to the head coach.
Monterey Trail football coach T.J. Ewing, the varsity head coach at Monterey Trail since it opened in 2004, said Tuesday morning that his program “owns it” and that the school “is not proud” of the hazing.
Ewing said that the suspended players did community service on campus last week, as handed down by the administration with his agreement, which included tidying up the campus from wind-whipped debris.
The suspended players will return to game action this week for a nonleague home game against California High of San Ramon, Ewing said, adding that players will be permanently removed from the program if any other incidents of any measure of bullying occurs.
“We had the kids apologize to the player, a good kid and a good player, and they did,” Ewing said. “The kids knew they were wrong. They’re kids and sometimes there’s immaturity. They have to grow up. We can’t downplay what happened, and it’s happened all around the country over the years, sadly. No one should ever have to be in that position, getting hazed. Ever. No human being. That’s why we take it seriously.”
The coach added, “It’s embarrassing for our school, our football program, the alumni, and it’s hurtful (to the victim or victims).”
Ewing said he “was pretty mad, pretty angry” about the incident after he and administrators reviewed the video clip. He said the school has increased its security around the locker room.
To the players who engaged in the hazing, he said “You’ve got to understand that you can’t hurt another person. It’s not right. It’s not tolerated. And you never hurt your teammates. This sport has to be about love.”
Elk Grove school district football woes
Another Elk Grove Unified School District football team made headlines last week when the school administration sent out a letter to parents about troubling behavior in the school locker room.
“We are writing to inform you of a matter that requires our collective attention and actions. It has come to our attention that a group of student-athletes have engaged in behaviors that do not align with the standards of conduct and character we uphold at Elk Grove High School,” the Sept. 4 letter from Principal Rudy Ortega reads.
A video obtained by The Sacramento Bee Tuesday shows three varsity football players forcing simulated sex acts on a freshman player. The perpetrators were suspended from the team for violations of the school’s code of conduct for student athletes and did not play in the school’s home opener on Friday against Golden Valley of Merced.
In the letter, Ortega also described immediate measures the school is taking to address the issue, including increased adult supervision around the locker room and an investigation into student-athlete conduct.
This story was originally published September 9, 2025 at 5:02 PM.
