California high school football teams threaten to forfeit games over rival's alleged recruiting violations

Four California high school football programs and their coaches have chosen to forfeit their games against rival Narbonne High over allegations of illegal recruiting and providing financial incentives to for players to transfer, according to a memo obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

Each program — Banning, Carson, Gardena and San Pedro — plays in the Marine League along with Narbonne and were scheduled to be the Gauchos’ final four opponents of the regular season. Narbonne and Banning were slated to play on Friday night, but the game was called as a forfeit after their decision.

The schools accuse Narbonne of offering athletes “tens of thousands of dollars to play for their team,” including housing arrangements.

“Narbonne’s practice of fielding All-Star teams has, in the past, created significant safety concerns,” they added. “When these practices occurred previously, the sheer imbalance in team strength posed real risk to player’s safety, and we are seeing a similar situation develop now. In addition to this, Narbonne has had over 20 transfers since last season, further supporting concerns about their recruitment practices.

… Reports in the past of players being flown in from out of state to join an already stacked roster reinforce the belief that this is not an isolated incident, but part of a broader strategy. We believe Narbonne’s practices undermine the level playing field that athletics are supposed to offer, and if allowed to continue, these actions will create lasting damage to the reputation and integrity of our league.”

The four coaches have also proposed that the Los Angeles City Section either expel Narbonne from the league because of its alleged practices or allow the other schools to break off and form another league “where fairness and integrity are prioritized.”

Narbonne has previously been disciplined for similar issues

The Gauchos program is not unfamiliar to this sort of controversy.

They were previously put on probation from the postseason in 2019 and 2020 after winning the City Open Division championship in 2018. That championship was later vacated by the City Section due to a violation of CIF eligibility rules involving an ineligible player participating in the 2018 playoffs.

Narbonne is off to a 5-2 start this season, led by a junior quarterback and Oklahoma commit Jaden O’Neal, who transferred in from Newport Harbor during the offseason.

Despite the alleged recruiting violations, Narbonne has struggled on the field in recent years, finishing 4-7 in 2023, 6-7 in 2022, and 2-9 in 2021.

During that time, they have a combined record of 3-10 against the four programs who have chosen to forfeit their future contests.