High School Football Player Charged After Alleged Head-Butt

James LaShoto, a high school football player from Arlington Catholic High School near Boston, is facing criminal charges for assault and battery after allegedly head-butting an opponent -- 17-year-old Daniel Curtin (pictured right) -- from Abington High School in a game on Sept. 19, according to The Boston Globe.

The paper reports that Curtin suffered two lacerations and a large bump on his head, and had to miss 10 days of football because of concussion concerns. LaShoto was suspended for two games by his own school.

You can see the incident during a video posted on the Globe's website, which comes from local public access television.

The incident occurs in the middle of the screen, just behind the original line of scrimmage, when LaShoto and Curtin were engaged in a block and fell to the ground. Curtin's helmet comes off in the process, which was when the alleged incident occurred.

LaShoto's lawyer had this to say:

[Ronald] Martignetti said the suspension, which was formulated in conjunction with both Arlington Catholic and Abington High School officials, was adequate. "We see this as an unfortunate incident,'' Martignetti said, and the filing of charges as "a misuse of the criminal process.'' "This was just in my mind a dirty play, not a clean one. I'm not going to defend the actions as far as the sport is concerned, but as far as the outcome, to have this boy charged with a crime - I believe it's inappropriate,'' he said, emphasizing that LaShoto had a "stellar record.''

Yet Curtin's mother doesn't quite see things the same way.

"We see this as an appropriate venue. We're hoping that by doing this, this doesn't happen again to anybody.''
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"There is no place on the field or in high school sports for this sort of deliberate act,'' she said.

Because the incident happened behind the play and none of the on-field officials saw it take place, there was no penalty called on the field.