Duxbury football game vs. Hingham canceled after use of anti-Semitic terms by Duxbury players

Duxbury football has won five state titles since coach Dave Maimaron took over.Stan Grossfeld/ Globe Staff

Update, 2:47 p.m. Wednesday: Duxbury football head coach Dave Maimaron fired after team’s use of anti-Semitic terms revealed

Friday’s high school football game between host Duxbury and Hingham has been canceled, according to Duxbury superintendent John Antonucci, and head coach Dave Maimaron has been fired.

The decision was made Wednesday morning after collaboration with school officials at Hingham. Saturday’s junior varsity and Monday’s freshman games also were canceled.

“We believe this is a necessary step in light of the recent incident involving the use of anti-Semitic language by Duxbury football players,” Antonicci said in a statement. “A decision about future games will be made at a later date.”

The language was used by Duxbury to call audibles against Plymouth North in a game March 12, Duxbury’s season opener. Plymouth school officials notified Duxbury authorities afterward about the offensive terms.

“In light of what we’ve learned over the past couple of days, and how serious the matter is, we felt it would be tone-deaf to play a football game,” Antonucci said. “It’s becoming clear that this was a systemic failure that needs to be addressed. We felt that a pause to the football program was appropriate for this week.”

Duxbury’s football coach, Dave Maimaron, was not on the sideline for last Friday’s game against Silver Lake and is not expected to return while the investigation is underway.

Maimaron issued a statement Monday, saying: “I want to extend my apology for the insensitive, crass, and inappropriate language used in the game on March 12th.”

For Hingham, losing a rivalry game against Duxbury is disappointing, especially after the Harbormen’s season opener against Marshfield was postponed due to COVID concerns. Hingham coach Mark Nutley said he’s been working the phones and social media trying to secure a game for this weekend.

“Completely understand why they had to cancel, it just stinks and I feel for my guys, especially the seniors,” said Nutley. “We feel like things were just starting to get rolling. I’m hoping someone wants to play us. We’ll play anybody at this point.”

Here’s what we know about the use of Holocaust-related and anti-Semitic terms by the Duxbury football team

On Wednesday, Mass. state senate president Karen Spilka said she found the Duxbury incident “appalling” and called for “accountability for everyone responsible, and for those who knew about this and failed to stop it.”

On Twitter, she wrote that it should be “more than just a ‘teachable moment’ — we need sustained, increased education — among administrators, educators, coaches, officials, referees and students — so that this never happens again.”

Globe correspondent Trevor Hass contributed to this report.