In a Doylestown court, four high school students yesterday agreed to testify against their classmates in a high-stakes criminal case.
Some were championship football players, grudgingly lining up against their teammates. One, a 17-year-old, could be called as a witness against his twin brother.
Those stark lines were drawn when four North Penn High School students decided to acknowledge their roles in a July 22 brawl that left four Central Bucks High School West students seriously injured.
The juveniles also agreed to testify against 12 others - some of them North Penn football teammates - charged in the midsummer fracas outside C.B. West in Doylestown.
The developments came at a critical time for North Penn's defending state championship football team. The Knights' first playoff game in defense of their Class AAAA championship is Friday night against unbeaten Conestoga.
Among those facing felony charges are North Penn's starting quarterback and two of the Knights' cocaptains.
Those who admitted guilt yesterday were a North Penn kicker, a defensive back, and two linebackers - one of them another cocaptain. All four are likely to be expelled from the team, a district spokeswoman said.
Those charged had been suspended by North Penn School District officials for one game in October - a romp over Abington - before reinstating the players, saying there had been no finding of guilt against them.
Yesterday, North Penn spokeswoman Christine Liberaski said school officials had not been able to decide on disciplinary measures because Bucks County Court officials would not release information about the day's proceedings.
"We are trying to get this information ourselves from the courthouse, and they wouldn't provide it to us," Liberaski said. "There will be disciplinary action, but until we have the exact information, we can't do anything."
She added that the football players awaiting hearings probably still will play, since they have not been judged guilty.
Those players, identified in court yesterday, are starting quarterback Adam Hearns of Cheltenham; linebacker and cocaptain Eric Halberstadt of Lansdale; offensive lineman and cocaptain Zachary Raffle of Hatfield Township; and defensive back Peter Lee of Horsham. All face felony assault and rioting charges.
The district's superintendent, athletic director and football coach had met for an hour yesterday about the situation, Liberaski said, and probably will confer again today.
