Andrew Lyman did not play the high school football playoff game between Elder and St. Xavier in Ohio on Friday. The star wide receiver was quietly forced to sit out of the postseason contest due to an unusual legal settlement.
It is my understanding that he will not play another game for the Panthers.
This unexpected absence stems from an unusual rule for high school football in the Buckeye State and a subsequent legal saga. The Panthers will be without their leading receiver for the rest of the year.
Why was Andrew Lyman ruled ineligible?
At 6-foot-4, 190 pounds, Andrew Lyman is rated as a three-star prospect in the college football recruiting Class of 2027. He is a senior wide receiver at Elder High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. He holds 12 scholarship offers from schools like UMass, Penn, Army, Youngstown State, Air Force and Columbia, but he committed to play at Ball State in May.
Lyman is from Kings Mills, Ohio and played his first three years of high school football at his assigned public school, Kings High School. The talented pass-catcher transferred to Elder High School, a private school, during the offseason.
However, Lyman was only allowed to play the first half of his senior season. Per Ohio High School Athletic Association transfer rules, any high school football player who transfers become ineligible after 50% of the regular season if they participated in that sport over the last 12 months. Lyman obviously played the same sport at Kings in 2025. The rule applies.
There are 12 exceptions to Ohio’s unusual transfer eligibility rule but Lyman did not qualify. Therefore, he was ruled ineligible after the first five games of the 10-game regular season.
It was a big hit for the Panthers. Lyman accounted for 56 of Elder’s first 199 points of the season in only four games. (Did not play in Week 4 due to an injury.) He caught 23 passes for 390 yards and eight touchdowns as the team’s leading receiver before he was required to sit. He was, per the rules as they are written, not allowed to play after Week 5.
And then it got litigious!
Lyman received a temporary restraining order against the OHSAA that allowed him to keep playing until his next court hearing. But that court hearing never came. It was canceled. The OHSAA and Lyman reached a settlement on the eighth day of October.
Elder defeated St. X in the Ohio high school football playoffs without its star wide receiver.
Details of the settlement between Andrew Lyman and the OHSAA were not made public. However, the settlement allowed Lyman to play additional games beyond the initial five that are allowed by the rules.
“Based on the outcome of the judicial process, the student is eligible to play additional games this season. The OHSAA and Elder High School administrators will ensure Andrew’s eligibility is consistent with the judicial decision, but the OHSAA cannot provide additional information at this time regarding how many additional games will be permitted. Elder is permitted to release additional information if it so chooses.”
Lyman was able to finish out the regular season. Elder finished at 8-2 to earn the No. 2 seed in the playoffs. It played Springboro during the second round. Lyman caught a touchdown during a 37-20 win.
The Panthers played again on Friday in the Regional Semifinal. Elder ultimately defeated St. Xavier on a goal line stand at the Pit.
It did so without Lyman. He did not play.
The settlement with the OHSAA allowed Lyman to finish out the regular season and play in one playoff game if Elder made the postseason. He already played in one playoff game. His season is now over. Elder will be without its leading receiver henceforth.