High school football: Nine-time state champion Miami Central forced to forfeit nine games for using ineligible player

Rockets likely to miss postseason after FHSAA strips eight victories from program for reported use of fifth-year player.

Central (Miami, Fla.), a nine-time state champion, was ordered Monday by the Florida governing body to forfeit all nine games it had played this season for using an ineligible player, according to a story in the Palm Beach Post.

The Rockets used a fifth-year high school student-athlete in compiling an 8-1 mark, according to the Florida High School Athletic Association. The forfeits drop the Rockets to 0-9 and all but assures Miami Central will miss the playoffs when the FHSAA releases the brackets later this week.

The Palm Beach Post said Miami Central self-reported the violation, which stated the ineligible player "entered the 9th grade for the first time during the 2020-2021 school year."

FHSAA Bylaw 9.5.1 states that a student is limited to eight consecutive semesters of eligibility beginning with the semester they begin ninth grade for the first time. ...

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