Linton students have been caught on camera hanging and burning a scarecrow with the jersey number of a minority football player from Oakes High School.

"Your first reaction is – why is this being done? What is the purpose of it? And it is alarming," says Kraig Steinhoff, the Superintendent of Oakes Public Schools.

Now, Paul Keeney, the head football coach and Superintendent for Linton Public Schools, has apologized by sending Oakes a formal apology signed by Linton's football captains.

"Instead of letting one photo or a short video run a narrative of the great people I have here. We wanted to be proactive and respond to Oakes to ensure that they understood that no harm was meant at all," Keeney says.

And aside from asking to personally apologize to the Oakes team and the player believed to be targeted before Friday's game - that may be the only consequence the Linton team faces.

"In fact the number on the front is not a number used by an Oakes football player at all. The number on the back happens to be a number used by an Oakes player," says Keeney.

"I accepted the apology that was given to us in the letter. And I guess it's going to have to be up to them on what they choose and how they handle that," Steinhoff says.

Still, Steinhoff says this is an opportunity for his district to learn something new. "We talked about our commitments which are growth mindset, respect, and generating relationships. And I believe that forgiveness has to fall in there," he says.

And while forgiveness is important, there will be procedures in place just in case not everyone is there just yet.

"Linton has had a long standing tradition of having both teams on one side of the field and we've asked to be placed on the other side of the field just because of the heightened sensitivity because of the heightened energy and the heightened emotions. That we feel it would be better for us and better for their teams to be on opposite sides of the field," Steinhoff says.

Steinhoff also says the student possibly targeted by Linton is eager to play in Friday’s football game and put this behind him.