Three Pennsylvania youth football coaches face criminal charges after a massive on-field brawl erupted during an 8-and-9-year-old game in Carnegie. Carnegie police charged the Carlynton head coach and two Keystone Oaks coaches following a widely shared viral video, while the youth football league launched an independent investigation.
Carnegie Police Charge Three Coaches After On-Field Brawl
The game featured 3rd and 4th grade students from the Carlynton and Keystone Oaks programs, according to local reporting from the Carnegie Police Department.
Kennedy announced criminal charges against three men involved in the melee as the investigation continued. Carlynton head coach Dequay Canton, 24, was charged with a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct and a summary count of harassment. Police allege that Canton threw punches which would have caused substantial harm and most definitely caused serious inconvenience.
The clash took place during the final minutes of Saturday’s game between Carlynton and Keystone Oaks, who were made up of 8 and 9-year-old players, in Carnegie, a Pittsburgh suburb. Carlynton coach DeQuay Canton, 24, was seen screaming at the sideline of the opposing team and then confronted one of their coaches, Frank McGrath, 37, the criminal complaint said. Although referees tried to separate them, the fight escalated as more Keystone Oaks coaches came onto the field and fought with the Canton, according to the criminal complaint. At one point during the fight, another Keystone Oaks coach, Joseph Kubiak, 35, and the Canton were seen throwing a punch at the other’s head as bystanders looked on and called to watch the kids, according to the video and the criminal complaint.
Two Keystone Oaks coaches, 35-year-old Joseph Kubiak and 37-year-old Frank McGrath, were also charged by summons with disorderly conduct following the police review of witness footage. Kubiak serves professionally as the assistant to the superintendent for operations in the Keystone Oaks School District according to district disclosures. Pittsburgh Action News 4 has learned Kubiak is also the assistant to the superintendent in the Keystone Oaks School District. The district released a statement about his involvement: School Board President Emily Snyder, on behalf of the Keystone Oaks Board of School Directors, has issued the following statement: On Sunday, August 30, 2026, the Superintendent and the Board of School Directors were made aware of an incident that occurred during a youth football game between the Carlynton youth football program and the Keystone Oaks youth football program that involved a district employee, Mr. Joseph Kubiak, Assistant to the Superintendent for Operations.
Video Evidence and Disputed Accusations Surround the Fight
The confrontation was captured on video by Ryan Crux, a Carlynton parent whose 9-year-old son plays for the Little Cougars D2 team as recorded from the sidelines. Chief Kennedy stated that investigators reviewed the footage and determined that Canton appeared to have started this fight and continued fighting even after referees and bystanders intervened.
Canton publicly defended his actions, asserting that he was reacting to racial slurs directed at his players by opposing team members during the heated contest. During Saturday’s game in western Pennsylvania, youth coach Dequay Canton of the Carlynton Little Cougars was seen enraged and fighting coaches from Keystone Oaks. In a statement, Canton claimed he was being portrayed by the national media to be the aggressor, but he says racism is what fueled his actions. Without providing evidence, Canton claimed our black and brown kids continued to be called an 'N,' and every quarter our kids were called the 'N' word, and we addressed it with the referees, but there was no response.
Canton claimed he was just defending his team, the Carlynton Little Cougars, from racism, when he lost his mind and started fighting opposing coaches and parents during a game in western Pennsylvania.
Chief Kennedy noted that no one has come forward to support those statements to us, adding that police contacted referees through a third party who reported that no such complaints were raised during the game. Authorities emphasized that even if slurs had been spoken, that didn’t justify the fight.
League Suspensions and Parental Fallout Impact Both Programs
Operating independently of the local school districts, the Steel City Youth Football League placed two initially ejected coaches on indefinite leave while league officials conduct an ongoing inquiry. Both the Carlynton and Keystone Oaks programs independently suspended five additional staff members in the wake of the altercation.
League officials stated that the scope of this inquiry is not limited to the ejected individuals, leaving open the possibility of further disciplinary actions against other personnel, coaches, or spectators. Ryan Crux, the parent who recorded and distributed the viral footage, received a formal Notice of Permanent Removal banning him from all league events following prior warnings regarding his conduct on practice fields and subsequent social media activity.
Meanwhile, the Keystone Oaks School District issued a formal statement addressing the involvement of Assistant Superintendent for Operations Joseph Kubiak, noting that while this incident occurred outside of the employee’s professional duties, the district takes the incident seriously and launched an internal review.