By DAN BISER
Sports Editor

In the same week that East Columbus High School opened its basketball season, it found out that it would have to forfeit all five of its varsity football victories this past season for use of an ineligible player.

ECHS athletic director Karl Bracey confirmed last Wednesday that the North Carolina High School Association had placed the sanction after the school had reported the violation a few days earlier.

Bracey stated that the matter was an oversight and a very unfortunate occurrence to the Gator football program, which has been in a major rebuilding stage under head coach Travis Conner the past three seasons. The Gators posted a record of five wins and seven losses, including the first four-game winning streak in the school’s 16-year history.

Along with the forfeitures, ECHS will be required to pay a $250 fine to the NCHSAA

“We hate that this has happened,” said Bracey, who made the discovery when he was checking eligibility status for ECHS basketball players. He reported the violation to the NCHSAA soon after. “It was an honest mistake that should have been followed up on.”

ECHS principal Mark Bridgers, a former head football coach and athletic director at the school, said that it was an unfortunate occurrence for the entire school and community.

“It’s especially tough on the kids and our coaches because there has been a lot of hard work toward getting our football program where it needs to be,” Bridgers said. “We just need to go on from here and keep working hard at providing the best for our kids.”

Bracey said that a senior on this year’s squad came out for football this fall and that it was the first time this player had been involved on a Gator athletic team since he enrolled at the school as a ninth grader.

The football eligibility check was made at ECHS prior to the school year and the ineligibility infraction went undetected.

What was not detected during that check was that the player had attended a full school year at a Raleigh high school and had failed his ninth grade term. He enrolled at ECHS as a ninth-grader the following school year.

Although the player’s age was not in violation, the eight-semester rule of the NCHSAA was in violation.

No athlete in an NCHSAA-sanctioned program can compete after he or she has been enrolled in a high school curriculum for more than eight semesters.

West Columbus, Red Springs, West Bladen, South Robeson and South Brunswick high schools have all been awarded wins as a result of the Gator forfeitures.

The 1999 Whiteville High School football team fell victim to the same plight after going 5-6 and advancing to the state playoffs.