RANDOLPH - Scores of Randolph students were pulled from the bleachers of a Randolph High School football game Friday night and compelled to undergo alcohol screening after a beer can either fell or was thrown in front of school personnel monitoring the student section, according to a statement from district Superintendent Jennifer A. Fano.

The students were sequestered in classrooms before the kickoff of the season-opening home victory over Livingston, creating what some parents described as a chaotic scene.

Parents were contacted to pick up their children and have them screened. District policy and regulation states that failure to comply with a screening is deemed a positive test result and will result in a suspension from school, Fano explained.

"Upon further investigation, several other containers of alcohol were identified," Fano wrote in her Friday statement, posted on the the district website. "There were also other indicia that the students in this section had consumed alcohol. As educators, we are charged with enforcing policy. The law requires that we send students out to be tested when it appears that they may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol."

But some adults with ties to the school district say district administrators went too far, alleging district officials punished as many as 75 students students for the actions of a few, and caused additional confusion for both parents and medical professionals trying to comply with the order.

"Sadly, some of the student body marred the evening by attending the game under the influence of alcohol," school board candidate Christopher C. Treston wrote in a Facebook post. "At least a few smuggled alcohol into the game itself. ... The safety of our students and the community is indeed paramount, and action by the school administration was absolutely warranted. However, the action taken at this event was disproportionate and exposed some serious gaps in district procedures."

According to a public Facebook post by Randolph High School student and Class of 2018 President Nate Pangaro, "Before the game could begin, an administrator went to the front and told everyone to be quiet. He announced that he found an opened beer can on the ground that rolled to him, and that someone should confess to (whose) it was before everyone was taken in for a breathalyzer test. No one confessed, so people went into the school each row at a time to be tested."

Students picked up by parents were eventually allowed to leave, Pangaro posted, but were given slips that they must go for urine and blood work at a medical facility to check for alcohol within two hours, or they would be subject to as much as five days of suspension.

Pangaro commented that he was at the game and agreed to testing because he did not want to be suspended.

The orders created anger and confusion among both parents and the medical personnel at area hospitals, according to Pangaro's post.

"Students then proceeded to emergency rooms in Dover, Denville, Morristown and Livingston," Christopher C. Treston, a school board candidate, posted on his campaign Facebook page. "The emergency departments at Dover and at Morristown were not given any warning of what was coming, and were overwhelmed."

Sheryll Lynne Penney, a former Randolph PTO president and mother of a 2017 Randolph High graduate, spoke exclusively in that capacity with the Daily Record. Penney said she had been contacted by several parents who expressed similar confusion and anger. Those parents said they believed their constitutional rights, as well as the rights of their children, had been violated.

"The students sign a code of conduct and they need to be held accountable, but so does the administration for handling the situation professionally," Penney said.

Treston told the Daily Record he attended the game with his twins, both sophomores at the school, after being with them the entire day. His son, who made his way to the student section, was among the students rounded up for testing. His daughter was not in the student section and was not part of the testing.

Based on his observations and discussions with others in attendance, Treston estimated based that about 75 students eventually were tested, and less than five produced a positive test result for alcohol.

"Let me be very clear: teenage drinking is a serious problem, and it did in fact occur at our school on Friday night," Treston wrote. "Our process of preventing backpacks, bottles and cans from entering the stadium broke down. In addition, some number of students arrived intoxicated. We owe it to the community to identify such students, and to protect them and the community. But, we also need to do it in a way that protects the rights and dignity of the student body. When the accused-but-innocent outnumber the guilty 16 to one, we probably did it wrong."

Fano, in her statement, disputed the level of confusion surrounding the incident and stressed that all supervising parties acted appropriately.

"On Friday evening, I also spoke with the medical professionals in Morristown, Dover and Denville who were charged with processing the student screenings," she wrote. "The medical professionals understood that our administrators are not responsible for determining sobriety and that we were properly following the law and policy. Members of the Randolph police were at the game and effectively assisted administration in following school procedures. It is my hope that this event leads us all to reflect. School events are meant to be a time to come together, celebrate our community, and make positive memories. Friday evening was just that for many, but for some it was not."

Staff writer William Westhoven: 973-917-9242; wwesthoven@GannettNJ.com.