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“I understand and greatly appreciate the hard work that our boys put into the season,” wrote Schools Supt. Mark Toback, noting that district officials self-reported the violations to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.
“I share the heartbreak this will cause our students, families, district and the Wayne Hills community,” Toback said Tuesday.
The result is an 0-9 record for the Patriots this season, no state playoffs and a revoked North Jersey Super Football Conference Freedom White Division championship.
Northern Highlands Regional High School in Allendale replaces them in the North 1, Group 4 bracket as the second seed. Irvington High School also gets what had been Wayne Hills’ top seed.
Led by Wayne Demikoff, the Patriots beat Irvington, 48-27, last Friday night in the regular season finale.
The district was obligated to report the situation after it was discovered, the superintendent said.
The NJSIAA, which oversees all high school athletics in the state, in turn notified Toback that “certain students on the Wayne Hills football team were deemed ineligible because they did not have a bona fide change of address,” Toback said.
NJSIAA officials called it an “unfortunate situation” but noted that the school met is obligation by reporting it.
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