Judge Rejects English High’s Bid to Enter Football Playoffs

Judge Gillian Feiner rejected Boston Public Schools’ request for an injunction that would have allowed English High, also known as English/New Mission, to enter the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association football tournament. The school system argued that the MIAA had misapplied its rules and that the O’Bryant game should count as a forfeit loss, qualifying the Eagles for playoff consideration.

BPS did not submit the game through ArbiterLive, the MIAA scheduling platform, by a September 18 deadline. The game was consequently recorded as a scrimmage rather than one of the seven regular-season games required for tournament eligibility. English finished with a 4-3 record; counting the O’Bryant game could have made it the 15th seed in Division 8.

Feiner noted that the MIAA rule makes schedules final after the deadline. She acknowledged the omission was inadvertent and that the exclusion was devastating for the players, but said granting the request would force the association to revise a tournament already underway and remove another school. Ware would have been knocked out of the playoffs.

BPS said it was disappointed and argued that eligibility should reflect a team’s record rather than clerical errors. The district said it would review its schedule-verification process and work with the team to recognize its season. The MIAA said the tournament would continue as scheduled.

English played a non-playoff game Thursday, losing 48-0 to Pentucket/Georgetown. The Division 8 playoffs had begun that day.