By Glenn Rolfe

LAUREL – Football fans from the general public won’t be allowed in the stands tonight when border rivals Seaford and Laurel clash on the gridiron.

Both school districts Friday afternoon announced via websites and social media that “due to credible intelligence from law enforcement that was shared with the Laurel School District earlier today, out of an abundance of caution, the decision has been made by the Laurel School District to close tonight's game to the general public.”

Laurel Superintendent Dr. Shawn Larrimore further stated in his posting that neither Laurel’s band nor its cheerleaders will be participating this evening. “Only the documented parents or guardians of Laurel football players will be granted access into Laurel Stadium,” Dr. Larrimore stated.

Two parents or guardians of each of Laurel’s football players will be permitted access into the game, provided the following:

• parent or guardian must be listed in eSchool. Staff with laptops will check this.
• Parent or guardian must have identification to present to officers and staff at the stadium entrance

Anyone not listed in eSchool or without proper ID will not be permitted access to the game.

Only Seaford’s football players and coaching staff will be permitted access to the game.

Delaware State Police Cpl. Leonard DeMalto said that the information was relayed to Laurel School District by the Laurel Police Department.

Laurel police could not be contacted early Friday afternoon.

“We regret that this action had to be taken for such a highly anticipated game, however, the safety of our students and community members remains our utmost priority, and the significantly reduced crowd will serve officers and administrators in ensuring this priority is achieved,” Dr. Larrimore said.

As of Friday’s announcement, the game between Seaford (6-1) and Laurel (7-0) is still to be broadcast on DSN, Dr. Larrimore said.

A similar cautionary measure was undertaken by the Seaford School District for its Oct. 21 home football game with Early College Dover, which was closed to the general public. For that game, only football players, cheerleaders, band members and Seaford senior cross country family members were allowed to attend the game with pre-authorization.

The precaution was primarily done out of an abundance of caution, after an altercation had occurred in the school lobby earlier that day, said Seaford Police Chief Marshall Craft. 

"We allowed Early College the same courtesy we offered our parents, allowing them to attend with pre-authorization as well," said Seaford School District spokesman Jason Cameron.