Ironton will not get to defend its 2024 high school football Division V state championship in Ohio.
The Fighting Tigers have been disqualified from the playoffs.
The school district announced the news overnight Friday into Saturday, after Ironton had concluded its regular season with a win on Friday night.
In the greatest bit of irony, it appears that the team Ironton beat Friday night, Portsmouth, would've missed the playoffs without any such ruling. But with Ironton out of the field, Portsmouth grabs the final spot in Division V, Region 19.
Here's why this all happened:
Why is Ironton disqualified from 2025 OHSAA football playoffs?
The Ironton City Schools Board of Education released a long statement explaining that recruiting violations have knocked Ironton out of the postseason.
This is the statement, in full:
"It is with heavy hearts that we share with you that we have received notification from the OHSAA of their determination that district coaching staff engaged in recruiting violations in 2018, 2019 and 2025, and that OHSAA's sanction will include suspension of Ironton High School from participation in this year's playoffs. The sanctions further include OHSAA's suspension of the three coaches involved from coaching in the playoffs next year, as well as placement of the football program on probation through the 2027-28 school year.
"To be clear, these are the sanctions imposed by the OHSAA; the Ironton Board of Education has taken no action at this time. The OHSAA's determination followed an investigation during which we repeatedly advocated strongly for the district's football program and its students, presented all rebuttal evidence available to us, and did everything we could in the short time provided to achieve a different outcome.
"We are deeply disappointed in this determination, particularly because the sanctions imposed harm on our students who were in no way involved in any wrongdoing, and we are particularly distressed about the impact on our seniors. We want you to know, however, that the sanctions initially proposed by the OHSAA would have made our team ineligible to participate in playoffs for two years and their decision to remove the ban in the second year was a result of our advocacy on the team's behalf.
"We understand that many of you are upset. After consultation with attorneys who have the most successful experience with legal challenges to OHSAA determinations as well as multiple local attorneys, it was their collective recommendation that we accept the negotiated sanctions presented to us at this point in time.
"Moving forward, we are fully committed to ensuring that appropriate corrective measures are taken to avoid any further adverse impact on our football program. This is a setback, but this has not erased the hard work and accomplishments of our students as a team this year. We are so proud of them. We will not let this take away our pride or our legacy, and we will strive, as always, to uphold the values that define Ironton City Schools both on and off the field."
Most of not in that statement seems to be the fact that the OHSAA's sanctions could've included a two-year postseason ban that was dropped to one.
It's also quite notable that the recruiting violations are said to have happened in three different years across a span of seven, from 2018, 2019 and 2025.
Ironton is a school in the southeast part of Ohio, not far from both West Virginia and Kentucky.
The Fighting Tigers are five-time state champions.
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