TSSAA Board of Control rules Fayetteville out of the Class 1A football playoffs

Tom Kreager
The Tennessean

Fayetteville, which went undefeated during the regular season, will not be participating in the TSSAA Class 1A football playoffs. 

The TSSAA's Board of Control voted 7-2 on Tuesday to deny Fayetteville's appeal over an ineligible transfer player.

The decision changes the Tigers' 10-0 season to 4-6 overall, 0-5 in Region 5-1A and out of the TSSAA's Class 1A playoffs.

"It's just unfortunate," said Board of Control member Bryan True, the athletic director at Loretto. "You don't want to ever do something like that. I understand it's a rule, and they understand it's a rule.

"Our rules are easy to overlook some times. In this situation where it says bus (route). That's the only thing they missed. But you've got a team that's 10-0 and they had to throw everything away."

Huntland is the No. 1 seed from Region 5-1A after the decision with Cornersville at No. 2, Mt. Pleasant at No. 3 and Richland at No. 4.

"I wish I could take one of the members back there with us to face my team," Fayetteville first-year coach Kenny Morson said. "I've got no words for it.

"This team worked so hard to become 10-0. It had nothing to do with a bus route. It had nothing to do with a recruitment of a player. It had nothing to do with anything deceitful. These young men worked their tails off to turn the program around."

Fayetteville went 1-9 last season.

At issue was a decision made in September by TSSAA executive director Bernard Childress declaring the Fayetteville athlete eligible. The letter said the TSSAA confirmed that the family had made a bona fide change of address to the Fayetteville High zone, meaning the player was immediately eligible.

TSSAA attorney Rick Colbert said the original ruling was in regard to the player moving from Alabama into Lincoln County.

In the TSSAA's transfer portal, the school checked off that the athlete had a bona fide change of residence that meets all the TSSAA's requirements.

That included that the new residence is in the territory of the new school and outside the territory of the former school.

On Oct. 15, TSSAA assistant director Gene Menees contacted Fayetteville regarding a complaint that the student wasn't living in the Fayetteville High territory. The student lives in Lincoln County. However, he doesn't live inside the Fayetteville city limits, which is where the bus route exists for Fayetteville High School.

The TSSAA's definition of territory includes both the geographic boundary and bus route.

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Reach Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or tkreager@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Kreager.