Fayetteville school forfeits playoff game over ineligibility

Fayetteville, N.C. — A Fayetteville high school can no longer participate in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 4-A state football playoffs after using an ineligible player.

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Terry Sanford's football team forfeits playoff spot

The NCHSAA decided Monday that Terry Sanford High School must forfeit its nine regular season wins after the school self-reported the use of an ineligible player. As a result, the school is shut out from Friday's playoff game against Pine Forest High School.

Fred McDaniel, student activities director for Cumberland County Schools, said he first learned of the ineligible player Monday.

"This is just unfortunate that this happens at this time. It is never a good time," he said.

According to NCHSAA rules, a school must forfeit games for which an ineligible player dresses, and pay a $500 fine. The fine, however, is typically cut in half for schools who self-report violations like Terry Sanford did on Monday.

Terry Sanford clinched the Mid-South Conference 4-A Championship last Friday with a 48-42 double-overtime win over Jack Britt High School. It also knocked Jack Britt out of contention for the No. 1 seed in the 4-AA East playoffs, sealing the overall No. 1 seed for undefeated Wake Forest-Rolesville.

"They are hurt. Our hearts have been torn out," Terry Sanford head coach Wayne Inman said Monday of the team's disappointment.

Inman said the player was deemed ineligible because of “issues with paperwork in his classes."

"His grades had to be checked out and investigated before we would even let him practice," Inman said.

Inman said he was told the player checked out OK when the football season began.

"We just feel like, as a program, as coaches, as players, that our kids have been deceived here," he said.

NCHSAA rules prohibit the playoff brackets from being amended after they are finalized. Thus, Terry Sanford will not be replaced in the playoffs, and Pine Forest will receive a first round bye and automatic berth in the second round.

Had the infraction been reported before the brackets were finalized Saturday, Jack Britt and Wake Forest-Rolesville would have been in a tie for the overall No. 1 seed in the 4-AA Eastern Region. That would have given Jack Britt a chance at the overall No. 1 seed. Now they will have to settle for the No. 3 seed.

Smithfield-Selma would have also been impacted had the ineligible player been reported sooner. The Spartans were in a three-way tie with Clayton and East Wake for the last two playoff spots. Smithfield-Selma lost the random drawing, but if the forfeits had come sooner, they would have received either the No. 15 or No. 16 seed in the 4-A playoffs.

The team's forfeit comes just days after school principal Diane Antolak was suspended with pay.

School district officials have declined to provide the reason for her suspension or to address whether the ineligible player is connected, citing personnel privacy rules.

(HighSchoolOT.com editor Nick Stevens contributed to this report.)