BUFFALO, N.Y. – A Rochester youth football coach is expected to recover after he was shot during a game Sunday morning.

The 31-year-old victim is a coach with the Flower City Panthers. They were playing the GR8 Elite Ducks in northeast Buffalo.

Police say just before the shooting, Rashaan Mallory, 29, of Buffalo forced a man and woman into his car, then drove to the game, where he robbed one woman of her cellphone. They say he then tried to steal the coach’s chains, shooting several times at him, hitting him twice.

They say Mallory tried to drive off with the first female victim still in the car. Police stopped him, and told him to get out. Instead, they say he reversed it and crashed the car. Police say they recovered a gun.

The coach was rushed to Erie County Medical Center, where he’s being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Mallory, who is on parole, has been charged with several felonies, including second-degree attempted murder, second-degree kidnapping, first-degree assault, first-degree robbery, afirst-degree unlawful imprisonment, and several counts of criminal possession of a weapon.

In a statement, Philbert Daniel, the president of the Flower City Panthers, expressed his gratitude that no one else was injured.

“I thank God for keeping the players and families that were at the games today safe. Unfortunately one of our Flower City Panthers Family fell victim. I see post[s] of people need to do better but I beg to differ. An individual that woke up with ill intentions and no predetermined targets exposed our youth to senseless violence and injured someone who served as a role model.”

“To answer any questions of uncertainty, yes the teams playing were football rivals. Yes, the teams were from different cities. No, today’s incident had nothing to do with the above. Random incidents can’t be prevented, but safety measures during and post incident are mandatory. I would like to personally thank all coaches and staff for getting everyone out of harms way regardless of team affiliations. Also, to those who were trained and certified to address the injured individual until EMT arrived.”

“Salute to my Flower City family, GR8 Family, CGE Family, Buffalo Kids family today for their swift actions today. The Upstate United Family, regardless of football rivalry, we stand as a united front to enrich our communities through collaboration and youth development.”

The Panthers have a bye week and will resume competition next week.