High School

Virginia High School Football Team Barred From Postseason Play

VHSL keeps Fairfax out of the upcoming high school football playoffs in Virginia

Dana Becker

Fairfax Football/X

One Virginia high school football team will not be allowed to compete in the postseason this year.

The Virginia High School League announced on Monday night that Fairfax High School has been barred from qualifying for the upcoming playoffs. The reason stems from an alleged recruiting violation involving a junior varsity player by one assistant coach.

According to a report by the Fairfax County Times, parents, players and city officials believe the Fairfax County Public Schools are applying a double standard in handling recruiting violations.

That double standard comes from an incident last year in which the FCPS cleared Hayfield Secondary School head coach Darryl Overton despite evidence that he had recruited several players, including those off the state championship team at Freedom. Overton had previously coached at Freedom.

Plenty of Odd Things Going on in Virginia High School Football

Fairfax head coach Trey Taylor was among those raising issues with Overton and his violations. 

For Fairfax, the allegations center around assistant coach John Harris, claiming he paid rent for a family friend who had a son transfer to Fairfax. Those close to the program and Taylor state he had no idea of the payment being made, and that it was to support friends in financial hardship and not recruiting.

Taylor and Harris were both suspended by the FCPS. 

After starting the year 0-2 with losses to Langley and Westfield, the Lions have won three straight over Robinson, Chantilly and West Potomac. They are set to take on South County this coming Friday and have three more games on the schedule.

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Dana Becker
DANA BECKER

Dana Becker has been a sports writer in Iowa since 2000, writing for The Fort Dodge Messenger, Mason City Globe-Gazette, Cedar Rapids Gazette and others. Dana resides in northcentral Iowa and started as a writer with SB Live Sports in 2022 focused on the state of Iowa. Along with providing coverage of football and wrestling, Dana also spotlights cross country, swimming, basketball, track and field, soccer, tennis, golf, baseball and softball. He began writing for High School on SI in 2023.

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