The Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association ruled Thursday that a Jones football player was ineligible and forced the Longhorns to forfeit six wins — including five district wins.
OSSAA Executive Secretary Ed Sheakley said Jones would appeal the ruling at next Wednesday’s meeting of the OSSAA’s board of directors. Also Wednesday, Sand Springs was forced to forfeit its win over Claremore last month. The forfeitures are devastating to Jones’ season. Jones stood 7-2 overall and 6-0 in District 2A-2 and had clinched the district title heading into tonight’s game against Bethel. The action lifts Millwood into the top spot in the district and Little Axe into second place, which would mean a home playoff game for Little Axe in its first-ever playoff appearance. Jones now stands 1-8 overall and 1-5 in district play. SeeWorth Academy forfeited last week’s game to Jones. Jones coach Dave Martin did not return calls for comment. Sheakley said the OSSAA first became aware of an eligibility issue with a Jones player, who he would not identify, when the OSSAA received an anonymous e-mail regarding the player. A subsequent investigation found the player, who is in his first season at Jones after transferring from another school, to be ineligible. Jones had not filed for a hardship waiver on the player’s behalf before the investigation into the player’s eligibility. Earlier this week, Tulsa Washington forfeited another football win after forfeiting two late last month after eligibility problems and recruiting violations were discovered. Jenks has also been investigated this season. That investigation led to the suspension of Trojans’ football coach Allan Trimble, an assistant coach and the Jenks athletic director but did not lead to any forfeits for this season. Jenks was forced to forfeit nine wins from 2008, when it made the Class 6A finals. The investigation into the Jenks situation was also brought about by an anonymous e-mail to the association. “We get probably 100 of them a day,” Jackson said. “Most of them wind up being nothing, or something we’ve already looked into, but we check them all out.” Jackson said the frequency of the e-mails has picked up since the Jenks investigation. “We’ve definitely seen more of them in the last couple months,” he said. The OSSAA has also heard from school officials more often, as they’ve checked to make sure they are following the OSSAA’s rules regarding eligibility. “We’re getting a lot of calls now,” Jackson said. “If anything else, this is helping the schools now to be extremely careful. That’s what we want.”
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