Peoria High will forfeit 2023 football season after IHSA rules team used ineligible player

Peoria High will forfeit its seven football victories from the 2023 season after the Illinois High School Association ruled the school used at least one ineligible player in those games.

An "administrative error" about the proper residence of two athletes led to the ruling, Peoria High athletics director Brien Dunphy said Thursday morning during a news conference.

Peoria High finished the season 7-3 with victories against Danville, Urbana, Manual, Richwoods, Bloomington, Normal West and Peoria Notre Dame. Those all will be vacated. The Lions' season ended in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs with a loss to Joliet Catholic.

"As athletic director, Peoria High rosters are 100% my responsibility," Dunphy said. "Verifying eligibility is one of the many challenges of an athletic director. Verifying eligibility is becoming increasingly difficult due to students believing the transfer portal is open and doubly difficult at a school with very high student mobility.

“... This is going to be something that I’m going to have to do a much better job of reviewing."

According to the IHSA, the Peoria High athletes violated bylaw 3.030, which pertains to athletes needing to reside full-time with guardians within the boundaries of the school they attend.

Bylaws 6.010 and 6.021 were invoked by the IHSA when punishing the school. The first bylaw gives the executive director authority to investigate alleged infractions and the "full authority to invoke actions." In this case, the second bylaw, 6.021, describes how the IHSA can rule that schools forfeit their contests.

Dunphy says he received an email a few weeks ago from the IHSA questioning the legal guardianship of one of the players as it applies to IHSA bylaws. Peoria High said two athletes violated the bylaw, but the IHSA clarified in an email that one of the athletes "did not significantly impact the results of the varsity contests," so only one factored into the decision for Peoria High to forfeit its victories.

“I issued a ruling on November 15, 2023, on behalf of the IHSA that the Peoria High School football team must forfeit its seven victories from the 2023 season due to use of an ineligible player in those contests," IHSA executive director Craig Andeson wrote in a Thursday release. "It is disappointing any time that we must issue forfeits, but it remains imperative that IHSA member schools adhere to the Association’s by-laws."

All Peoria High sports are now on probation until Nov. 14, 2024, with the IHSA monitoring any activities by the Lions. They will be able to compete next season.

"My experiences with the Peoria High School administration and athletic department have always been positive," Anderson said, "and I believe they have taken this matter very seriously and are taking steps to ensure that a similar situation does not unfold again in the future.

"We will support them in those efforts in any way that we can moving forward.”

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Dunphy went on to say the ruling does not reflect on the Peoria High coaches, and he takes the blame as an administrator.

"Coaches coach kids. This is an administrative error," Dunphy said. "I apologize to my Peoria High family for this error. Peoria High School has worked very hard over the years to build a very strong athletic department.

“We’ve already begun to ensure that this never happens again. In this situation, I’m most disappointed for the student-athletes on our football team who bear the brunt of these penalties. Peoria High School is committed to following all IHSA rules as always.”

Jaivyn Moore, who played receiver for the Peoria High football team, recently was ruled ineligible by the IHSA for this upcoming boys basketball season, according to Richwoods athletics director Ron Dwyer.

Moore played for the Lions football team before transferring to Richwoods on Oct. 31, said Dwyer. This came on the heels of Peoria High's playoff loss four days earlier.

Dwyer asked for an eligibility ruling from Anderson, who then sent the retiring AD a letter deeming Moore ineligible for the entire 2023-24 school year. Dwyer says his paperwork submission to the IHSA is standard practice for any new student-athlete transferring into Richwoods.

"I didn’t want to put our basketball team in jeopardy," Dwyer said. "This is just procedure. We wanted to make sure he wasn't going to affect the eligibility of our team."

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Within the bylaws, there’s a process to appeal the IHSA's decision, but Dwyer says Richwoods understands the ruling and will not be pursuing one.

Moore was a key contributor for Richwoods basketball last season during its Class 3A Sweet Sixteen run. The 6-foot-4 guard scored 10 points as Richwoods beat Manual, 64-56 to end a 13-year regional title drought. The all-Big 12 Conference second-team punt/kick returner then enrolled at Peoria High this fall.

"That was a shock," Dwyer said of Moore leaving.

Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria High football forfeits 2023 season for using ineligible player