Maryland high school football team forfeits 5 wins, still eligible for state playoffs

The three-time defending Class 1A state champions in Maryland high school football, Fort Hill, have been forced to forfeit five wins after reportedly using an ineligible player.

According to a report by the Cumberland Times-News, Fort Hill was made aware by an anonymous report that a member of the varsity football team was not a resident of Allegany County (Md.), which is a violation of Allegany County Public Schools and Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSAA) rules. 

“The investigation didn’t reveal any wrongdoing or lack of diligence by the Fort Hill administration or football coaching staff,” a press release from Allegany County Public Schools said. The player allegedly did not live within the state and provided fraudulent residency information to the school.

The Sentinels are three-time defending state champions at the 1A level, winning crowns in 2021, 2022 and 2023. They were 7-2 this prior to the forfeitures, but now sit at 2-7.

Despite that, they will still be able to participate in the state playoffs because of a rule passed in 2021 that makes every Maryland public school football team eligible for the state tournament.

Fort Hill, which was the No. 1 seed in the West Region entering last week, is now the No. 6 seed and will play local rival Allegany this weekend. The two schools played last weekend in the regular-season finale for both, with Fort Hill winning in a 39-0 rout.

The program — one of Maryland’s best over the past two decades — last played a state postseason road contest in 2010. And they’re currently seeking to match the 1A championship four-peat run from 2013-2016.

Maryland the latest state hit with ineligibility forfeits

The Free State is among four states who have had similar incidents over the past week with schools using players who are ineligible to play.

Schools in Texas, Florida, Louisiana and Maryland — including multiple state contenders — have been forced to vacate wins due to similar investigations into ineligible players.

Louisiana powerhouse Baton Rouge University Lab was stripped of all seven of its victories because of a reported ineligible player, according to TheAdvocate.com.

Rumors had been circulating about an LHSAA investigation into the program for potentially using ineligible player(s), and on Monday, the LHSAA confirmed the forfeits by updating the team’s record to reflect nine losses on the state association’s website.

On Monday, Matt Stepp of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football reported that the Dallas (Texas) Independent School District has ruled Samuell High will forfeit each of its seven wins this season after using ineligible players.

The Spartans were 7-2 heading into this weekend’s game against winless Spruce and had a 4-2 district record. Had they won this weekend, they would’ve made the bi-district round of the playoffs as one of the top four teams in Class 5A-II District 5.

Now though, their postseason hopes look to be all but gone after Monday’s ruling.

In Florida, one of the top high school football programs in the country, Miami Central, has been retroactively forced to forfeit nine games this season because of the use of an ineligible player, the Florida High School Athletic Association ruled on Monday.

Miami Central self-reported the violation to the FHSAA, according to SI High School’s Andy Villamarzo. In accordance with FHSAA’s bylaw 10.2.1, the Rockets’ record has been changed to 0-9 with the postseason bracket reveal less than a week away.

That follows a report from the Orlando Sentinel over the weekend that The First Academy (TFA) was found guilty of multiple rule violations. As a result, the Royals will be on restrictive probation until Dec. 20, 2025. That decision means forfeiting all their wins during this year’s Florida high school football season and having to sit out the playoffs in 2024 and 2025.