Stockbridge, the 2023 Class 4A football runner-up and a recently crowned region champion that was on a nine-game winning streak, was forced to forfeit its nine victories Tuesday for using an ineligible player.
GHSA executive director Tim Scott confirmed the penalty and told the AJC that Stockbridge self-reported the violation, which involved a player that did not make a proper bona-fide move in residence, the most common reason for retroactive forfeits. Scott declined further comment.
The decision ends Stockbridge’s season and makes Ola (10-0, 9-1) the Region 2-4A champion. It is Ola’s first region title since the school opened in 2006.
Also benefiting is Eagle’s Landing, which now qualifies for the playoffs as the region’s No. 4 seed. The No. 2 seed will be Jones County, and the No. 3 will be Hampton. Four teams from each Class 4A region make the playoffs, which begin next week.
Stockbridge is coming off a 12-3 finish and its first state finals appearance in history. That was under former coach Thomas Clark, who is now at head coach at Jackson in Butts County.
Current coach Kendrick Callier came from Cedar Grove, where he was the offensive coordinator and a staff member for five state championship teams.
Stockbridge failed to get a prominent player eligible in preseason when the GHSA ruled that Bo Walker, a former Cedar Grove star who is committed to Georgia as a running back, could not play. GHSA rules require that transfers who follow a former coach must sit out one academic year. Walker has since transferred to Rabun Gap, a Georgia boarding school that doesn’t not play in the GHSA.
This week’s forfeits are unrelated to the Walker case. The current ineligible player was not named. Stockbridge had to forfeit all games in which the player played.
The last time a GHSA ruling cost a football team a region championship, it was overturned on appeal. In 2023, Cook was forced to forfeit five games, prompting a south Georgia judge to issue a restraining order. The GHSA’s board of trustees voted to overturn those forfeits, and Cook went on to the playoffs.
Stockbridge lost its appeal Tuesday and has no avenue to change its fate. The nine forfeits are the most the GHSA has assessed against a football during a season since 1990, when Waycross forfeited 10 games, including a playoff victory.
About the Author
