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Seven games, seven victories… and now none of them count.
The football team of Foothill High School was stripped of its undefeated status this week after the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) ruled that the Bakersfield-area team had fielded two ineligible players. The team had to forfeit all of its seven victories.
Mike Biezard, the school’s athletic director, said that the CIF had originally cleared both players to compete but the school received a letter from the governing body that reversed the course and declared the players ineligible.
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Biezard told ABC News that schools don’t verify a student’s submitted address and that job falls to the CIF.
He said that the exact reason why the federation opened a probe into the two players remains a mystery. It is also currently unclear which eligibility rules were violated by the players and the team.
The punishment didn’t sit well with the team’s kicker, Rolando Correa, who said the CIF’s actions aren’t helping anyone.
“I feel like it’s not right just to go to high schools and ruin their seasons. I feel like they should just let kids play ball,” he told the news outlet.
Earlier this month, Garces Memorial High School in Bakersfield also had to forfeit four of its five wins for similar reasons.
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The CIF had previously cleared brothers Carter and Bryce Hanson Garces, who transferred from rival Liberty High School in the offseason, but later reversed its decision.
The CIF initially cleared both brothers to compete on Aug. 17, granting them full eligibility based on what was classified as a “valid change of residency” following their transfers from Liberty.
Later, the federation changed both players’ eligibility status from “valid change of residency” to “denied” for the remainder of the football season.
Though the Rams won five straight on the field, the ruling dropped them to an official 1-5.
