Youth football coach in Riverside arrested after allegedly punching 14-year-old after game

A youth football coach in Riverside was arrested and suspended after he allegedly punched a 14-year-old player in the head and knocked him unconscious after a game.

The coach, Eibylardo Funes, was arrested and booked on charges of battery and willfully harming a child on Saturday after he allegedly assaulted Harlem Edwards, who was playing for the opposing team in a game over the weekend, according to sheriff’s records.

Attempts by The Times to reach Funes were unsuccessful.

Edwards suffered a concussion and a seizure on the field, according to video his mother posted to Facebook and Instagram.

“He was punched in the face by a coach of the opposing team,” Edwards’ mother, Neenah Kaowili, wrote on Instagram.

Her son was playing for the Perris Panthers, a Pop Warner team, and they were facing the Murrieta Broncos in a game at Vista Murrieta High School. After the game, an altercation occurred, and Kaowili says Funes punched her son. The boy then had a seizure and was unconscious on the field for two minutes, she said. He was still hospitalized as of Monday.

Kaowili did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Why is this person a coach why is he allowed to be in the presence of children if this is what he’s capable of!!!” she wrote on Instagram.

Funes was suspended from his coaching position, the president of the Murrieta Broncos told The Times.

He was released Sunday on $35,000 bail. The Riverside County district attorney has not yet formally filed charges against the coach.