Texas 2A football program ruled ineligible for 2025 postseason for alleged recruitment violations

No coaches found involved in recruiting players from 7-on-7 club team.

Rio Vista's high school football team has been ruled ineligible for the 2025 postseason following allegations of student-athlete recruitment. / Evert Nelson/The Capital-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Rio Vista High School football team has been ruled ineligible for the 2025 postseason by the District 7-2A Division I executive committee, following allegations of student-athlete recruitment. The unanimous decision, which also declared several players ineligible for varsity competition, was announced on September 2, just days after the Eagles' season-opening 26-20 win over Hico.

The allegations focused on inducements for players from the same 7-on-7 club team to move into the district for the purpose of playing football. The committee's investigation found no evidence that Rio Vista ISD coaches were directly involved in the alleged recruitment. As a result, no penalties were issued to the coaching staff, leaving the ban to fall on the program as a whole.

The ruling changes the team's outlook for the remainder of the season. The Eagles entered 2025 with eyes on contending for the District 7-2A Division I title, a goal now unattainable. Instead, it’s another setback for a program that has struggled with inconsistency, recording a 5-6 season in 2024 and a 2-8 finish in 2023. In fact, the program has only one winning season since 2008 - a 7-4 mark in 2020. The Eagles went 6-4 in 2008.

It is a significant blow to a program that had returned a fair amount of talent from last year's team, including junior quarterback Kaiden Scott, who threw for 2,669 yards and 26 touchdowns. With very few seniors on the roster, the junior passed for 180 yards and two touchdowns in the season opener last week while senior running back Anthony Zepeda led the team with 122 yards rushing and a touchdown.

A very young team, Zepeda and Pryce Elms were the only seniors to record any yards in the game. Six of the other seven players to record at least one yard were juniors, along with one sophomore.

The fallout drops the district from seven teams to six, with the top four set to make the playoffs.

Rio Vista is expected to appeal the decision to the UIL State Executive Committee (SEC). The SEC is a body of school administrators that reviews appeals from district-level decisions. A hearing will be scheduled, during which the committee will hear from all involved parties, including student-athletes' families, school representatives, and the District Executive Committee chair.

The status of the team’s upcoming district games remains uncertain until the SEC issues a final decision. The next meeting of the State Executive Committee is scheduled for September 8, 2025.

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