AKRON — Two Akron City Series football programs have lost wins from this season after the Ohio High School Athletic Association ruled that Buchtel and North both used academically ineligible players, the association confirmed on Friday, Oct. 16.
Buchtel must forfeit four of its five wins this season, while North must forfeit its only win. OHSAA media relations director Tim Stried confirmed the forfeits on Oct. 16 and said both cases involved a violation of Bylaw 4-4-1, the association’s scholarship rule, which is the standard academic eligibility requirement for Ohio high school athletes.
Stried said the players involved were academically ineligible and that the number of affected players at each school was several, though he did not have an exact count for either team. The forfeits wipe those victories off both schools’ records heading into the final weeks of the regular season.
Akron Public Schools said it was first notified of potential eligibility issues involving the two teams and investigated both cases itself. The district then self-reported the violations to the OHSAA, first by phone and then through formal letters detailing the bylaw infractions and the games affected.
The district said it respects the association’s decisions, will comply with the rulings and all associated consequences, and will not appeal either the Buchtel or the North decision. District officials said the schools remain committed to following OHSAA bylaws and maintaining the integrity of their athletic programs.
The OHSAA, for its part, publicly credited the district for coming forward on its own. Stried said the association appreciates Akron Public Schools self-reporting both issues, a step that brought the violations to light without an outside complaint driving the process.
The forfeits land in the middle of an already unusual City Series season. Akron moved its remaining City Series football games to Saturday mornings earlier this month, and the reordered schedule continues this weekend. For Buchtel and North, the lost wins reshape their records and their standing in the City Series race, and they cost both programs victories their players earned on the field — a hard lesson, delivered late in the season, in how much the classroom side of eligibility matters in Ohio high school sports.