New Rochelle High School advances without football coach Louis DiRienzo
NEW ROCHELLE, Westchester County (WABC) -- The New Rochelle High School football team won its second playoff game without their long-time head coach.
Saturday night the team came back to defeat Shenendehowa 24-17 in the Class AA state semifinals.
Louis DiRienzo was reassigned pending an investigation as parents and students continue to show support for him.
New Rochelle teachers were among those who rallied outside of City Hall on Friday.
The school board re-assigned DiRienzo while it investigates him for an incident involving a student.
District officials would not comment on the circumstances of the investigation, but parents say that it involved a student who is DiRienzo's relative and who was impaired in some way at school.
DiRienzo contacted that person's father, the parents say, and allowed them to leave the school rather than face discipline -- an apparent violation of school protocol.
The decision has been met with major backlash from players, students and the football parents association, and it has included protests and walkouts.
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