Groton — There I was last Friday night, in the middle of Dorr Field, the lawn where Fitch High plays its football games, about to interview victorious Fitch coach Mike Ellis, when a Groton police officer approached the two of us.

"Coach," the officer said, "I'm your escort for tonight. When you are done, I'll escort you to the fieldhouse."

It's the first time I'd ever seen the home coach need the police to get off the home field safety.

And just when I'd seen it all here in almost 30 years, I was wrong again. This was one for the memoirs. Adult behavior so bad that the winning coach wasn't safe on his own field.

Ellis, always affable, chuckled and said to the officer, "geez, they're mad at me now even when we win."

I didn't find it as funny.

Maybe because I know Ellis to be among the most decent men in the teacher/coach profession. Or maybe because I've just had enough. Enough, enough, enough. And it's time the rest of us mounted an offense against the delinquents who ruin the games our kids play.

The bleachers at Fitch football games this year have been hijacked by a group of people totally bereft of social grace. The familiar rhythms — second-guessing of play calling or personnel decisions — would be downright musical compared to this constant cacophony of combativeness that is as loud as it is profane. It is mostly aimed at Ellis and the coaches.

It got so bad Friday that in the second half, a police officer and security personnel went into the bleachers and escorted the offending parties off the premises. Kudos to athletic director Marc Romano and his staff for their diligence.

Except it's not enough.

Fitch has a home game remaining this season on Thanksgiving. This is the time for school and law enforcement officials to combine resources and ban the offending parties from the premises. The crowd figures to be bigger on Thanksgiving and there's just no way kids, families and other patrons should be subjected to behavior that offends every facet of societal standards.

Because this I guarantee: If they are permitted to sit in the bleachers again, their behavior won't change. I doubt that missing one game will teach them any enduring lessons. But at least it'll provide peace to everyone else.

I've noticed that Ellis and his coaches have their hands full this season — and seasons past — helping their players cope with failure. It's not pretty. Some kids default to blame assessment, finger pointing and an inability to control their tempers, thus inhibiting their ability to play the next play.

And then you look in the stands at the way the adults are behaving.

And you wonder this: If the reaction to adversity at home is perpetually volcanic, should we be surprised when the kids act accordingly?

Teenagers are impressionable for many reasons, not the least of which is that their brains are not fully developed. And just as calm home environments can be therapeutic, incessant volatility can be damaging.

Straight up: It's not teachers, administrators, society, police, the "system" or anything else. If our kids are ever to feel responsibility for their actions, they need to be made responsible, lest we see why kids are prone to act stupidly: They inherit it.

Think about this again: Adult behavior was so bad Friday night that Ellis had to gather his kids — his happy, victorious kids — and tell them they were not allowed to stop and chat with anybody milling about in front of the fieldhouse. They were to run off the field and immediately up the stairs to the safety of the fieldhouse.

That's because Ellis knew what the players and coaches were subjected to earlier in the night at halftime: Yelling, screaming, swearing and second-guessing, all of which created a volatile situation.

Attending a high school sporting event is a privilege, not a birthright. The behavior of some parties in the Fitch stands this season has been offensive. There is one game left. Identify the offending parties and ban them on Thanksgiving morning. Hire extra security to patrol the stands in case they missed anybody. And let's start taking our games back.

A high school coach needed an escort off his own field.

Right here in Groton, CT.

Sickening.

I've had enough.

How about you?

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro