In position to go deep in the playoffs, Holly Springs football ineligible for postseason
The Holly Springs football team had its best season in school history in 2019, but the Golden Hawks won’t be able to reap the benefits.
Holly Springs used an ineligible player this season and was forced to forfeit two games after self reporting the violation to the NCHSAA. The forfeitures mean the Golden Hawks won’t participate in the 2019 NCHSAA playoffs.
After finishing 10-1 overall and 5-1 in the South Wake Athletic Conference, Holly Springs received a first-round bye in the playoffs that are set to start this week. The Golden Hawks would have played the winner of Garner and Wakefield, but the winner of that game will now get a rare second-round bye.
Per NCHSAA rules, once a team is removed from the final bracket no other team will be added. With the two additional losses, Holly Springs’ records dropped to 8-3 and 3-3, which meant they were no longer a No. 1 seed. Instead of rearranging the finalized bracket, Holly Springs was removed from the playoffs.
“We discovered that we had an ineligible player participate in the last two football games of the regular season,” Holly Springs principal Robert Morrison said in a statement Wednesday. “We reported this violation to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. As specified in NCHSAA policy, we must forfeit those games, and our team is ineligible for the playoffs.”
Holly Springs defeated Apex, 30-20, on Nov. 1 before beating Hillside 20-12 in the regular-season finale last Friday. Both of those wins are now losses.
The NCHSAA imposed a $500 fine for the violation, but it was reduced to $250 because Holly Springs self-reported the ineligible player.
“We regret the oversight and sincerely apologize to the students that are impacted,” Morrison stated. “We will take steps to see that an oversight of this kind never occurs again.”
In the statement, Morrison said the team was informed Wednesday morning that their 2019 season was over.
“This is a disappointment for the fine student-athletes on our football team, as well as our entire school,” Morrison said in the statement. “I’m proud that they are handling the news responsibly and with grace. I assured them that they have the support of the entire Hawks community.
Nothing will ever take away their accomplishments from this season and the way they have proudly represented our school and community.”
Since opening in 2006, the Golden Hawks have never won a playoff game, going 0-5 all-time in the postseason. That was expected to change in 2019. Holly Springs started the season 7-0 before falling to Middle Creek on Oct. 18. The team ended the season with three straight wins and put themselves in prime position to make a run in the 4AA bracket. Two of those three games were forfeited.
This story was originally published November 13, 2019 at 1:15 PM with the headline "In position to go deep in the playoffs, Holly Springs football ineligible for postseason."
