A hazing incident that “went too far” and created a culture of fear and intimidation is at the center of an investigation into the storied Sayreville War Memorial High School football program, multiple sources told NJ Advance Media.

Sayreville Superintendent of Schools Richard Labbe carefully avoided the word “hazing” at a Friday afternoon press conference, saying the school district has been notified of “inappropriate conduct at a significant and serious nature” in the football program.

At least one parent of a Sayreville freshman player said his son and teammates would “stampede” to the locker room after practices to try and get dressed before the senior players entered and “push around” the freshmen.

“It’s weird because I see kids outside the locker room putting their clothes on, rather than be in the locker room and doing it,” said Vincent Marra, whose 14-year-old son is on the freshman team. “Because maybe they don’t want to be the one or two kids that are left in there when the seniors come in and they do whatever the hell they do.”

Labbe said the Sayreville Police Department and the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office are investigating the incident. He offered no additional specifics.

James O’Neill, spokesman for the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, confirmed an investigation is ongoing, but would not provide any details.

Sayreville forfeited all levels of football games this week, and Labbe said the district was acting with the “utmost consideration of the safety and welfare of the students on that football team.” He would not say if the football schedule would resume next week, which drew the ire of several parents in attendance at the Friday press conference at the board of education building in neighboring South Amboy.

“If (the allegations are) true, I feel bad for the people it’s happened to,” said Tracy Ansley, a Sayreville parent. “But how about the rest of the kids? They should be able to play. … There are kids who have scouts looking at them. I mean, it’s a big deal.”

Labbe even pleaded publicly for parents or students who have any information about the alleged incidents to report what they know to police or the prosecutor’s office.

“The decision to forfeit the football game was made by me,” Labbe said. “And it was made by me because this community needs to know that the safety of the students – particularly the safety of the students on that football team – comes first before a football game.”

The past 24 hours have rocked Sayreville, a working class community with a proud football tradition. At the same time as the hazing allegations emerged, the team also is dealing with fallout from the arrest of its defensive coordinator, Charles Garcia, on charges of steroid possession.

Garcia faces a third-degree steroid possession charge after being pulled over in Somerset County last week with two sealed boxes of steroids and 14 syringes in his car, according to court records.

Garcia, according to his attorney, has resigned from his coaching position.

Labbe said the school district and Sayreville police are investigating the steroids bust. He would not say whether there’s any indication Garcia sold steroids to players, or if the Sayreville players could be drug tested before the team plays again.

“As soon as we learned of that arrest, (Sayreville principal Jim) Brown and the Sayreville Police Department launched an immediate investigation,” Labbe said. “Now, if that investigation were to demonstrate that there was the slightest possibility of (players using steroids), then we would take certain measures to ensure of that. But that investigation is ongoing as well.”

The jarring revelations surfaced after Sayreville officials canceled their Thursday night game against South Brunswick. The cancellation came just hours before kickoff and without explanation, leaving students outside the school and on social media buzzing about allegations of hazing on the football team.

The entire Sayreville community, it seems, has been turned upside-down by the news emerging from the high school.

On Friday, droves of news reporters scoured Sayreville, speaking to kids outside yogurt shops and pizza joints, the news vans filling parking lots. Many residents wondered what might become of the town’s beloved football team, which, under long-time head coach George Najjar, has won three state sectional championships in the past four years, becoming a rallying point for the community.

When reached at his home Friday, Najjar declined comment.

But Marra said he is among those who feel the culture at Sayreville is troubling. Marra said he’s not positive what the seniors do to the freshman in the locker room, but that he believed it was not pleasant.

“[My son] says they push you around and stuff like that,” Marra said. “But obviously for a criminal investigation to be going on, it was more than that.”

Marra said the freshmen, junior varsity and varsity teams share a locker room at the school, and that early in the season the freshmen finished an hour earlier than the varsity, allowing the team plenty of time to get dressed alone. But now, Marra said all the teams change at roughly same time.

“So now it’s just like a stampede to the locker room,” Marra said.

Labbe, meanwhile, took the blame for the turmoil in his district.

“I take responsibility for everything that happens in the school district,” he said. “I’m responsible for the well being of all the students in this district.”

NJ Advance Media reporters Jim Lambert, Brian Amaral, Vernal Coleman, Seth Augenstein, Sue Epstein, Steve Politi, Braulio Perez and Tom Haydon contributed to this report.

Matthew Stanmyre may be reached at mstanmyre@njadvancemedia.com