Several Whiting High School football players will miss their Class A Sectional opener Friday, and two volleyball players will miss their sectional game tonight.
The suspensions follow an incident at a party Saturday night at a vacant house in Hammond's Robertsdale neighborhood. The incident, which neither school nor police officials would describe, involved several Whiting student-athletes -- many of them football starters.
"There were several of our student-athletes who were involved in a situation that was handled by the school-parent handbook athletic section," Whiting High School Principal Dirk Flick said.
Flick said he finished his investigation Wednesday afternoon and handed down the discipline.
Whiting Police Chief Stephen Miller told The Times that an incident occurred in Hammond, and referred inquires to that city's Police Department.
Hammond police spokesman Lt. Michael Jorden said Wednesday afternoon that no criminal charges have been filed, and detectives from Hammond Police Department's juvenile division were investigating at the request of Whiting High School officials.
The football Oilers (4-5) open sectional play at South Central (6-3) on Friday night.
"Officially, I have no comment about what happened," Whiting football coach Jeff Cain said.
When asked what the suspensions mean for Friday's game, Cain said, "We've still got 20-some kids we have left and we'll do the best we can. We'll run 11 out there and play as hard as we can."
Earlier this season, Whiting's football program forfeited three games for using two academically ineligible sophomores in wins over River Forest, Bishop Noll and North Newton.
Whiting reported the clerical error to the Indiana High School Athletic Association.
The volleyball Oilers face sectional host Morgan Township, and coach Kelly Greer said the team is ready.
"We've been practicing all week without them (the suspended players)," she said.
-- Times correspondent Steve Zabroski and Times staff writers Hillary Smith and Chris Keller contributed to this report.
