Warner Robins, the third-ranked football team in Class AAAAA, must forfeit its Oct. 5 victory over Harris County for inadvertently using an ineligible player, the GHSA ruled officially on Thursday.
Warner Robins (at 7-2 overall, 2-1 in Region 1-AAAAA) still can win its region title and earn the No. 1 seed with a victory over Friday against Veterans (8-1, 2-1).
But a loss could send Warner Robins to the No. 4 seed as Harris County (4-6, 2-2 with a forfeit win) would hold the tie-breaker edge over the Demons. That would require that Bainbridge (4-5, 2-1) beat Thomas County Central (5-4, 0-3).
Bainbridge now would be in position to win the region if Bainbridge wins Friday and Warner Robins loses because Bainbrdge defeated Veterans head to head.
According to the GHSA, Warner Robins inadvertently failed to turn in an eligibility report for an academically ineligible student. The student practiced and played with the JV team all season, which is against GHSA rules, before playing briefly in the varsity game against Harris County.
GHSA By-Law 2.63-f states that “the minimum penalty for allowing an ineligible athlete to participate in an interscholastic contest is forfeiture of the game(s).”
Allowing a student to participate in a contest without filing an eligibility report also can result in forfeiture on any contests in which the student played (By-Law 2.32).
Warner Robins also was fined and placed on warning for the violations.
Warner Robins coach Mike Chastain told Fox24in Macon that the player participated in only one play in the Harris County game. Warner Robins won the original game 41-0.
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