Vermilion Parish School officials watch video of handshake; does not clearly show ‘BTA’ took place

Did the TikTok trend “BTA” cause the fight between North Vermilion High and Comeaux High School after last week’s football game?

It has been a week since it happened, and no one knows the official details yet.The Vermilion Parish school officials have lo acated a video of the handshake after the game. The Meridional also obtained a copy of the video, which shows the teams shaking hands. During the handshake, a Comeaux player suddenly stops and walks back to a North Vermilion player, who was four players down in the middle of the field.

The Comeaux High player then runs up to the  North Vermilion player, who is not uniform and pushes him out of the handshaking line.Based on the video, the Comeaux player takes a swing at the NV player, who then tries to escape. School officials are still trying to determine why the Comeaux player turned and pursued the North Vermilion player.

Other media outlets have reported that the Comeaux High player was upset because the North Vermilion player allegedly touched that Comeaux player with a towel on his butt.  The Meridional first reported that a Patriot player touched a Comeaux player  with a towel while shaking hands. 

That touching with a towel is known as “BTA” or “Beat Your A--.”The video does not show the North Vermilion player touching anyone with a towel. When he is pushed outa of the line by the Comeaux High player, he is holding a towel like the other players.

“I do not know if he swings the towel,” Vermilion Parish Superintendent Tommy Byler said. “Do I think it was the TikTok challenge? No. Something provoked the Comeaux player. 

“Regardless of why it happened, the result (fighting) was not justified.”

The Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA) handed down a one-game suspension for both teams. North Vermilion and Comeaux did not play Friday night. The two schools will also have to write up a plan to prevent an incident like this from happening again.

The North Vermilion player initially pushed by a Comeaux High player is not one of the players who suffered concussions after being beaten by Comeaux High players.

North Vermilion officials are still investigating the videos.

“Any student found to be actively participating in a fight will be disciplined accordingly, said North Vermilion Principal Denise Lotief. “We are trying to separate who was attempting to remove players and who was a willing participant at this point.”