Argyle Liberty Christian is taking its fight for a spot in the Texas high school football playoffs to court.
A hearing on the school’s requests for a temporary restraining order and injunction is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 10. Liberty Christian is seeking to overturn a TAPPS ruling that removed its football team from the Division I playoffs, according to The Dallas Morning News.
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Liberty Christian sued TAPPS after the organization’s executive board ruled that the school used an ineligible player, wide receiver Jace Johnson, in violation of its “follow the coach” rule. The ruling required the school to forfeit games in which Johnson played, eliminating the team from postseason contention.
The dispute centers on whether Liberty Christian assistant coach Antonio Griffin previously coached Johnson on a 7-on-7 football team.
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TAPPS officials said the school’s athletic department and coaching staff “knew or should have known” about Johnson’s connection to Griffin’s Lionhearted 7-on-7 program before the season began.
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Liberty Christian and fellow plaintiff Jericho McCants are challenging the ruling, alleging that emails submitted as evidence were altered and that Griffin never coached Johnson.
The Dallas Morning News reported that parents allege an email was changed to describe Griffin’s involvement with the program as “Owned and Coached by Coach Griff,” rather than the original wording, “Owned by Coach Griff.”
Undra Hendrix II, a Lionhearted coach, told the newspaper he coaches Johnson’s 18U 7-on-7 team, while Griffin owns the program.
The hearing will address whether Liberty Christian can temporarily block TAPPS’ ruling as it continues its effort to return to the playoffs.
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This article originally published at Texas high school football team challenges TAPPS playoff ruling in court.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
