Friday night started out as a great night for Mineral County high school sports. Keyser High School’s new stadium was packed with area students and fans from both teams for a game that featured the 7-1 Frankfort Falcons versus the 6-2 Keyser Golden Tornado. Not in a very long time had a Mineral Bowl been anticipated as much as the 2009 version of this Mineral County tradition, so the table was set for an outstanding game and event, and the players and coaches delivered just that… a great game, filled with big plays and outstanding effort.
On this night the Frankfort Falcon players came up with a few more big plays and out-efforted their counter parts from the southern end of the county by a score of 22-13, taking home the Mineral Bowl trophy and some well-earned memories.
Unfortunately the story of this evening does not end there. After the game was over, and while the Mineral Bowl trophy was being presented at mid-field, the smell of victory quickly turned into something more noxious as a member of H-Team Security (who were hired by Keyser High School to keep unauthorized folks off of the track and field) was doing as ordered when he saw fit to send some projectiles of Oleoresin Capsicum into the jubilant crowd of Frankfort students who were preparing to join their classmates on the field.
Don’t know what Oleoresin Capsicum is? How about Pepper Spray? That’s right pepper spray. That’s the same pepper spray that is, according to Wikipedia, “a lachrymatory agent (a chemical compound that irritates the eyes to cause tears, pain, and even temporary blindness) that is used in riot control, crowd control, and personal self-defense, including defense against dogs and bears.” 
Stunned? So are we. And we are now doing our best to find out the: who(s), what(s), why(s), and where(s) of this story. But one thing is already perfectly clear to us:
THERE WAS NO PLACE FOR THE USE OF PEPPER SPRAY ON FRIDAY NIGHT (PERIOD).
While the facts are still coming in, along with some eyewitness accounts, here’s what we can only assume to be true:
• There was not an out-of- control crowd on hand and certainly nothing near “riot-state”.
• It appears as though the number-one priority of H-Team Security was to protect the new field and track, even if that meant using pepper spray.
• H-Team Security was only doing what they were told.
• Frankfort students and Mineral County citizens were pepper sprayed.
Hindsight is always 20-20 but we believe that protecting every student in the Mineral County School system from harm is more important than keeping fans off the track and field at all cost. After all, we are dealing with high school kids here, and for the Frankfort student body this was the first time that their beloved Falcons had won in the last six years. These young fans were “amped” up and should not have been denied a place on the field with their classmates, friends, and family.
In fact, it is our view that the Keyser High Staff and H-Team Security missed an opportunity to make the new stadium more fan-friendly. Instead of preparing to do whatever was necessary to keep fans off the field, KHS officials should have clearly marked what gates fans could use to access the field after the game to celebrate their victory. If officials were worried about damage to the track, they could have laid down mats and plastic as they do where players and coaches enter the field of play. This should have been done on the Keyser side of the field also, as we cannot help but wonder “what would have happened” in the post-game aftermath had Keyser pulled off a miraculous comeback.
Frankfort students, parents and fans get our highest praise for how they handled this ugly situation, because in many instances, like the one on Friday night, the use of pepper spray on a crowd can be something akin to throwing gasoline on a fire. Now, it is time to put together all of the: who(s), what(s), why(s), and where(s) and make sure that this NEVER happens again.