St. John Paul II is choosing to bow out of the high school football playoffs in Alabama. It has decided to forfeit its upcoming game against Brairwood Christian to preserve the health and safety of its student-athletes.
There are not enough players available to compete.
As a result, the Lions will advance to the next round while the Falcons’ high school football season comes to an end. All of this stems, in large part, from a change to the postseason format.
Every Alabama high school football team made the playoffs in Double-A.
St. John Paul II Catholic High School will forfeit its varsity football game against Briarwood Christian School on Friday, Nov. 6. The school announced its decision on the Monday prior to the start of the postseason.
St. John Paul II is a college preparatory school located in Huntsville, Alabama. It enrolls less than 400 students in Grades 9-12. Briarwood Christian is a private K-12 school located in Birmingham, Alabama. It enrolls approximately 600 high school students.
Both schools compete in the Private Double-A division of the Alabama High School Athletic Association within Region 2. There are only 16 Private Double-A schools in the entire state. This is the first year that public and private schools were separated in the AHSAA. As a result, every high school football team made the playoffs in 2026.
The regular season records ultimately did not matter in terms of qualification and Friday’s first-round forfeiture is the perfect example. These two programs had very different results over the last few months.
The Falcons finished the regular season at 0-10. They did not win a single game and were outscored 440-84 and became the first winless team to reach the postseason since 1990. The Lions finished the regular season at 10-0. They won every game by a combined score of 397-98.
Briarwood also defeated St. John Paul II by 49 points during their game on October 1. It was an extreme mismatch!
St. John Paul II decided to forfeit against Briarwood.
Although the Falcons would’ve liked to play another game, even if they were just going to lose to the Lions for the second time in five weeks, it does not make sense for them to do so. And not because they are scared of the competition.
St. John Paul II said the “difficult decision” was made with the “absolute priority of ensuring the safety and well being of our student athletes.” It also issued an apology to Briarwood.
“While this is an incredibly unfortunate situation that is entirely out of our control, the safety of our student-athletes must always come first. We deeply wish we could take the field this Friday, but we cannot compromise the health and safety of our young men. We extend our sincere apologies to Briarwood Christian School’s players, coaches and fans for the disruption to their schedule, and we thank our own school community for their understanding and continued support of our athletes.”
The Falcons entered the regular season finale with only 22 available players. After suffering even more injuries during their loss last Friday, they would’ve had only 16 available players for the first round of the playoffs. And of those 16 players, a large number of them are either in the eighth grade or freshmen. The difference in their players’ size, age and experience compared to the Lions played a significant role in the decision not to play.
Briarwood head coach Matthew Forester told AL.com that, while he understands why St. John Paul II chose to forfeit, he is bummed for the players. Not just his own.
“As a guy who thinks high school football can be a foundational thing in a kid’s life, I hate to lose any opportunity where a young man doesn’t get to play the game. It’s sad from that standpoint because playing on Friday night with your friends is a great thing. I understand where St. John Paul is in their program, and I respect them. We have no ill will about it. But, at the same time, I love for my kids to play high school football. I think it’s one of the neat things in the world.”
His team will advance to the second round against the winner of Randolph and John Carroll. That game is scheduled for Nov. 13.