Miami Booker T. Washington football coach Earl Tillman's tibia was broken during a brawl after a scrimmage against Pahokee at a Nike-sponsored 7-on-7 camp Saturday in Miramar Park.

Tillman was taken to a hospital and will need surgery on the tibia, Booker T. Washington athletic director Lisa Starks said. He is ''a little sad right now,'' Starks said.

Booker T. Washington, the defending Class 4A champion, and Pahokee, the defending Class 2B state champion, were disqualified from the tournament. Because the event was sanctioned by the Florida High School Athletic Association, the teams could face penalties, including suspensions.

''We don't know what kind of punishment there'll be,'' Starks said. ``But we expect it to come next week. No one has called about it, and we've never had a situation like that.''

Calls to the FHSAA were not returned.

The fight broke out after Booker T. Washington won an early round game 22-21 by making a last-second two-point conversion.

Starks said the players told her that a Pahokee player ran into a throng of Booker T. Washington players during the celebration, prompting the fight.

''One of the kids from Pahokee, after the last play when we had won, was angry and came at our team,'' she said. ``Then it all happened.''

Pahokee coach Blaze Thompson said he could make an argument that the Booker T. Washington players started the fight.

''But I don't know who started it, and I'm not going to sit here and do the blame game,'' Thompson said. ``I don't have any proof either way, and neither do they.''

Starks said Tillman was attempting to break up the fight when he ended up on the bottom of the pile, which resulted in a broken leg.

According to Starks, the fight began in the middle of the field, made its way to the Booker T. sideline and lasted about a minute before the coaches -- including Thompson and Tillman -- could separate the players.

Starks said 10 Booker T. players were involved -- the seven who were on the field and three who left the bench.

''This has never happened with us before,'' Starks said. ``This is not the character of our team. We'll sit down next week with the parents and with the players and discuss what needs to happen.''

Thompson said Pahokee would take ``appropriate disciplinary action.''

''It's unfortunate and it's inappropriate and I don't condone my players fighting for whatever reason,'' he said. ``There's no excuse for us to cross the field.''

Nike's Scott Henson, who coordinated the event, said both teams had contacted him to apologize.

''It was very disappointing,'' he said. ``Our hope is that this will make teams sit down talk and to their players about sportsmanship.''

Tillman was named Booker T. Washington's coach after Tim ''Ice'' Harris took a position with the University of Miami following the Tornados' undefeated 2007 season.

Booker T. Washington won the Class 4A championship and finished the year No. 4 on ESPN's top 25 national rankings. Harris' son Brandon, a blue-chip safety, was a part of UM's top-ranked 2008 recruiting class.

Pahokee finished the 2007 season 14-0, defeating Newberry 53-14 to win the 2B state championship.

In the 7-on-7 tournament, Miramar -- featuring top South Florida quarterback prospect Eugene Smith -- won the title by defeating Miami Columbus 8-7.

''We've got a lot of heart, we've got a lot of talent and we've got a lot of speed,'' said Smith, who is ranked as one of the top quarterbacks in Florida by numerous recruiting services.

''[Coach Damon Cogdell] just told us to finish what we started, and we did,'' he said.

Smith said he is ''still wide open'' about his college choice, as did Miami Killian running back Lamar Miller.

Each is ranked No. 1 in his respective county by recruiting analyst Larry Blustein.

Miami Herald staff writers Patrick Dorsey and Justin Azpiazu contributed to this report.

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