5:28 pm September 1, 2010, by Michael Carvell
Towers High won its season opener in football, but will have to forfeit.
DeKalb County officials said it was determined that Towers used an ineligible player in the 30-21 win over Central Macon on Aug. 27. Under GHSA rules, the game must be forfeited.
Towers is now 0-1 for the season, while Central Macon is 1-0.
AJC updates from the world of high school sports in metro Atlanta and Georgia
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2011 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
24 comments Add your comment
Habersham Dawg
September 1st, 2010
6:26 pm
At least they caught it during the first game instead of at the end of the season. This way their season isn’t ruined.
The Ole Ball Coach
September 1st, 2010
7:08 pm
Why write Georgia football team? How about Towers High School forfeits season opener….GOOD LORD!
bluedawg
September 1st, 2010
7:46 pm
It’s a hook so that you would click on it
Hit A Single
September 1st, 2010
8:39 pm
I agree totally. What a sorry title. Heck we know it is a Georgia team. Poor journalism!
H.S. Coach
September 1st, 2010
8:58 pm
How in the heck do coaches use ineligible players? Are they just lazy or studid. It’s not that hard to check.
Another H.S. Coach
September 1st, 2010
10:59 pm
What made the player ineligible? Grades, residency, etc…. If a kid moves into your zone and is registered in your school and you as a coach have done all you could possibly do to make sure everything is on the up and up, what else is there to do? In most cases, it is not a case of stupidity. Some are cases of oversight. Some are cases of parents lying to school officials about where they live. I don’t think most coaches will risk trashing their entire season over a few players and if they do they deserve to have their games forfeited. The Towers coach is a new coach to the county. It had to be an oversight.
Georgia Peach
September 1st, 2010
11:03 pm
In the defense of the coaches, how many of you have all your players correct? It’s up to the athletic director to double check as well. While the coach is getting ready for game day, as we all know there are a million things going through his mind. Yes, there was a blunder but I’m quite sure that this has happened to others coaches in the past as well. At least there isn’t a 21 year old on the team trying to pass as a high school student! They did not signal out Towers because last year Stone Mountain and Lithonia High Schools forfeited not only their preseason games but the region games as well. Who was wrong then? After that many games, I’d pick the coaches! Is Towers not a Georgia H.S? I agree with Hit A Single that it is poor journalism but what the hay, it makes for this conversation here! Instead of everyone jumping on the Towers do wrong band wagon, everyone should find an easier way or work on this situation once a new student transfers in. As we have read, this is a new coach to Towers and this should not be held against him. So what they are 0-1 now, it’s not a region game and please believe all the eggs will be in the right basket from this point on! And to you H.S. Coach, STUDID should be spelled STUPID!!!!!!!!! Coach!!!!!!!!!
dawg day afternoon
September 1st, 2010
11:42 pm
Even if Georgia has to forfeit this one game, at least they sold all their tickets, unlike the North Avenue School for Virgins.
JP
September 2nd, 2010
2:25 am
I hate to see my alma mater get a win like that but if Towers cheated then I guess they deserved it. Go Chargers!!!
Paddy
September 2nd, 2010
6:21 am
It has to be something other than grades, You can’t be ineligible after only one week of class. For that to happen you would need to be in that Otis Sistrunk area of mentality!
Monica
September 2nd, 2010
8:21 am
Georgia football team forfeits season-opening win after using ineligible player
If the team had been UGA, the ineligible player would be AJ Green, after the truth comes out about South Beach.
AVikingFan
September 2nd, 2010
9:08 am
Folks keep in my that seldom are headlines written by the article’s writer. They are usually added by editors and their staffers. So don’t kick Michael Carvell under the bus for saying “A Georgia school….” Besides, it was just a “hook” as someone else said to get your attention, so you’d read the article.
Each school must send an eligibility report to the state listing all their players in all sportsd and certifying they meet eligibility standards. Some High School coaches have secretaries who do it, some assign it to an assistant coach. Some head coaches do it themselves. In high schools around the state, most head football coaches are also the Athletic Director, unlike colleges. So, the buck stops there!
And to Monica – there’s been no evidence AJ Green has ever been to Miami or South Beach in his life. Besides, why bring that up in this forum, the article was about a high school team?!! Just saying…..
That Guy
September 2nd, 2010
9:20 am
Monica,
The UGAggers have been using ineligible players for YEARS. What’s new?
DecaturDog
September 2nd, 2010
10:09 am
Hey Monica and That Guy – your envy is showing! Let’s see – Tech wins the ACC but loses at home to UGA who was having an off year – yup, it’s envy! But don’t get off the pity pot – UGA will stomp the North Avenue Trade School again this year!
glw
September 2nd, 2010
10:32 am
since it came out early, probably an oversight. sometimes its a kid who transferred in, maybe they didnt get all their records or they are found out to be living outside the district. I wouldnt doubt most schools have at least 1 or 2 kids who are ineligible. I remember in high school, our coach deliberately using a player who was ineligible. It was the last game of the season, and he had transferred in at the beginning of the year.
A real coach
September 2nd, 2010
10:47 am
I can tell you it wasnt intentional. Coach Jones is an outstanding person and coach, one of these best people I’ve known in my 36 years. If he used anyone who was ineleigble, there had to have been some sort of miscommunication. I hate to see the game the Spivey kid had tarnished. He’s a true baller. Coach and his team will get through this.
A real coach
September 2nd, 2010
10:49 am
With all of the cheating going on in GA hisghschool football, would someone research Buford, Parkview, SWD or MLK to see where their kids actually live????? Then you’d understand what ineliglble SHOULD be.
A real coach
September 2nd, 2010
11:13 am
Well Put GA Peach.
Big John
September 2nd, 2010
11:37 am
Buford runs a squeaky clean program, run over and investigate before flapping your gums.
Jim
September 2nd, 2010
12:09 pm
Big John…right clean program…..Dexter has been a low life cheater for years…..grow up and play 4 A or 5 A ball like your suppose to ,,,,,,,,North would stomp the wolves tail
Brandon Spikes
September 2nd, 2010
12:57 pm
AJ could not have been in Miami. He was with me making a video.
puppydawg
September 2nd, 2010
2:14 pm
Monica, did you ever get that stain out of your blue dress?
K-MAN
September 2nd, 2010
7:07 pm
When it comes to prep -ball…Nobody should cheat…but high school ball is a big money-game depending on where its played! Believe it or not…you would be SURPRIZED to find out just how much youre NOT SUPPOSED to know! Money ,not to mention (politics), can keep a whole lot of things quiet! Where we go wrong as true-fans….is thinking it only happens to somebody-else or somewhere-else! THINK about it…theres a lot about this game and surroundings that we are NOT supposed to know…And sometimes….we never find-out!
joeroc
September 6th, 2010
10:03 am
yes they did know. the kid was 2hr short. he was @ another school they would let him play so they transfered to towers, they said they will play him. they knew