St. Benedict has forfeited the first three games of its TSSAA football season and has been fined $300 by the TSSAA for playing an ineligible player according to a letter from the high school governing body obtained by the Commercial Appeal on Sept. 21.
According to the TSSAA’s letter sent to the school on Sept. 18, St. Benedict played a student who was ruled ineligible by the state office for previously transferring multiple times. The player participated in St. Benedict’s first three games of the 2026 season against Memphis Middle College (Aug. 20), Lake County (Aug. 28) and Fayette Academy (Sept.4).
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According to the TSSAA, the player’s eligibility was submitted on Aug. 3 by the school administration, and the state office responded the next day with a ruling that he is ineligible at the varsity level in football for 12 months past his last date of participation for his previous school.
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The player participated in his last game at his previous school on Sept 5, 2025. As a result, he would have become eligible at St. Benedict on Sept. 6 of this season.
St. Benedict beat Kingsbury, Sept. 11 and lost to Briarcrest on Sept. 18. Prior to the forfeits, it held a 4-1 record. It now goes into its Week 6 game against Northpoint Christian, on Sept. 25, with a 1-4 record.
“St. Benedict respects the decision made by the TSSAA,” St. Benedict principal Ramon Villacura told The CA. “As a Christian school we are committed to the principals of integrity, accountability and fair competition. The school is conducting a audit to identify where it went astray to avoid similar situations in the future.”
Under the TSSAA Bylaws, the player “will be ineligible to participate in the next six varsity games”, according to the letter.
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Article II, Section 12 states: “If a student who is ineligible, under these provisions regarding students changing schools,competes in a contest while ineligible, then the student upon becoming eligible under these provisions will nonetheless be ineligible to participate in twice the number of contests in which the student participated while ineligible or will be ineligible for the remainder of the season, whichever is less.”
The Eagles’ next four games are Division II-AA West Region games against Northpoint Christian, St. George’s, Lausanne, and Evangelical Christian. Its final game of the regular season is at Harding Academy.
Reach The Commercial Appeal’s high school writer, Ryan Myers at ryan.myers@commercialappeal.com and on the X platform @RyanMyers_23.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: St. Benedict forfeits three TSSAA football games after playing ineligible player
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