Victor Valley High School has suspended its entire football team and coaching staff for a week and forfeited an upcoming game after players and the school mascot directed offensive gestures and language at Apple Valley High School players and fans following last week's Bell Game. The Victorville school beat its longtime rival 20-7 on September 11, but the postgame celebration is now overshadowing the win.
According to a joint statement from superintendent Carl J. Coles and principal Darius Robinson, Victor Valley players “behaved in an unsportsmanlike manner toward the opposing team and fans,” with the Jackrabbits displaying offensive gestures and language toward Apple Valley players and fans, as reported by KTLA. Video that circulated on social media, shared by football coach Chris Fore, captured the Victor Valley mascot making middle-finger gestures directly toward the Apple Valley spectator section while players celebrated on the field, according to BroBible.
As the host school for the annual rivalry contest, Victor Valley apologized to Apple Valley's players, students, staff, coaches, parents and community members, per the joint statement, and the district said it accepted responsibility for falling short of expected respect, sportsmanship and hospitality. Officials said the school would work with the coaching staff and team to address what happened and would review its athletic code of conduct, adding that athletic success cannot take precedence over character.
A Hard-Fought Win Turns Into a Costly Penalty
The game itself was tightly contested. Victor Valley led just 6-0 at halftime and 13-7 through three quarters before pulling away late for the 20-7 final, the same account from BroBible notes. The win let Victor Valley retain the Bell trophy and marked the Jackrabbits' second straight victory in the series, following a 2025 win that snapped a 16-year losing streak against Apple Valley, according to the Great American Rivalry Series.
That history helps explain the emotional charge behind the celebration. The Bell Game dates back to 1969 and has been featured in the Great American Rivalry Series, with Apple Valley still holding a 39-17 lead in the all-time series despite Victor Valley's recent surge, per the same rivalry database. The trophy at stake is a 100-pound steel bell that once sat atop a local church in the High Desert before being repurposed as the rivalry's prize, according to a gallery shared by VVDailyPressNews.
Forfeit Hits Non-League Opponent
Because the entire team and coaching staff are suspended from football activities for the week, Victor Valley has forfeited its next game, a home non-league matchup that had been scheduled for Friday night against Brea Olinda High School, per KTLA. The Los Angeles Times reports that the forfeit leaves Brea Olinda with an unplayed win on its record. Apple Valley, meanwhile, is set to play El Camino Real High School in Oceanside on Friday, per KTLA.
In the aftermath of the game, rumors spread online claiming fights or even a shooting had occurred on campus. Victor Valley administrators publicly dispelled those claims, clarifying that the game itself proceeded without stadium violence, according to a statement shared on Facebook.
Discipline Framework and Open Questions
Under California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section guidelines, gross unsportsmanlike conduct ejections typically carry mandatory three-to-six game player suspensions, though member school districts retain independent authority to enforce broader team-wide forfeits, according to the CIF Southern Section. Victor Valley's blanket team suspension appears to go beyond that section-level baseline. The district said it would reinforce the standards required of student-athletes and coaches going forward.
A Rivalry Rooted in High Desert History
Victor Valley High School, established at its current campus in 1952, is the oldest secondary school in the Victor Valley Union High School District and also maintains Southern California's second-longest high school football rivalry in its annual Axe Game against Barstow High School, according to the school's own history page. Apple Valley High School, founded in 1967 within the Apple Valley Unified School District, sits less than 10 miles east of Victor Valley in Victorville, per BroBible's reporting. The Jackrabbits and the Sun Devils, as the two schools are known, will now have to wait to see how this season's controversy shapes the next chapter of their decades-old rivalry.
