Southern California High School Football Team Forfeits Wins Due to CIF Violations

Yorba Linda High in Orange County received word from the CIF Southern Section that its football team will have to forfeit its first four wins of the 2026 season.

Yorba Linda players grouped together pre-snap against Huntington Beach during a CIF Southern Section high school football game. | Jeremy Westerbeck

Yorba Linda High School's football team will forfeit its first four wins of the 2026 season for CIF violations.

High School On SI confirmed the forfeitures with a spokesperson from the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District.

"On September 29, 2026, the California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) determined that the Yorba Linda High School football program was in violation of CIF Bylaws 503.B(1) and 510," the spokesperson wrote via email.

"The substantiated violations involve more than one student and more than one incident. The investigation documented deficiencies over time in eligibility verification, communication between coaches and athletic administration, and participation clearance. These findings support the District’s conclusion that institutional failures occurred in the oversight of the athletic department and football coaching staff."

The Mustangs were 4-1 heading into its Alpha League opener this Friday night at San Clemente, but now their record will be 0-5. Yorba Linda started the season 4-0 with since over Laguna Beach (34-21), Long Beach Poly (30-13), El Dorado (27-0), and Esperanza (42-7).

The program's first loss of the fall came on September 18 against Huntington Beach, 29-25.

CIF Violations

This is how CIF Bylaws 503.B(1) and 510 read in the Blue Book.

503.B(1) Uniform Administrative Oversight Penalty

In the case where it is determined by the CIF Section that an ineligible student competed due to the failure of the school administration to submit proper CIF Section transfer eligibility paperwork which would have, had it been submitted in a timely manner and reviewed by the Section, otherwise been granted immediate eligibility in that sport(s) in which the student participated prior to the appropriate paperwork being submitted.

510 Undue influence, pre-enrollment contact, disclosing pre-enrollment contact, athletically motivated transfers

Undue influence is any act, gesture or communication (including accepting material or financial inducement to attend a CIF member school for the purpose of engaging in CIF competition regardless of the source) which is performed personally, or through another, which may be objectively viewed as an inducement, or part of a process of inducing a student, or his or her parent(s)/guardian(s)/caregiver, by or on behalf of, a member school, to enroll in transfer to, or remain in, a particular school for athletic purposes.

Crackdown By CIF Started In 2025

The 2025 season marked one of the most aggressive transfer-eligibility crackdowns in recent CIF Southern Section history. CIF seemed to have increased its monitoring of transfer paperwork, ultimately declaring dozens of players ineligible and handing down two-year penalties in numerous cases.

Bishop Montgomery became the most prominent case, with 19 football players ruled ineligible before the school canceled the remainder of its season. Other programs, including Long Beach Millikan, Orange Lutheran, Long Beach Poly, Norco and San Juan Hills, also faced eligibility issues that resulted in forfeited games, playoff consequences or both.

The crackdown continued throughout the season, with CIF revisiting eligibility cases after new information surfaced. By the end of 2025, the issue had extended well beyond individual players, forcing schools across the Southern Section to take a much closer look at transfer paperwork, residency changes and the circumstances surrounding player movement.

Full Press Release

Yorba Linda Football Press Release | Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District