GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Grand Rapids Catholic Central, one of the top teams in Division 5, will not play in the high school football playoffs after the Michigan High School Athletic Association pulled the Cougars from the bracket on Thursday, a day before the postseason began.
The association said its investigation found Catholic Central used an ineligible player in six regular-season games. The Cougars must forfeit those games, and their opponents will be credited with wins, though the association said the change does not alter playoff points for teams still in the field.
Catholic Central finished 7-2 and came in as the top seed in Division 5 under the playoff-point system, while sitting level with Grand Rapids West Catholic atop the division rankings. The school said the player sat out three of those early games, so the ruling costs it five wins, and that he was held out of the last two games after the association contacted the school.
Comstock Park, which is 4-5 and had been set to travel to Catholic Central on Friday, moves on to the district final. It will face the winner of the Berrien Springs and Lakewood game.
School leaders said in a letter to families that the association had cleared the player earlier this year before new information about the family’s former residence surfaced in mid-October.
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