Kingston Anetema is going to play on the Junior Varsity team at Bishop Montgomery after the Knights were forced to forfeit their entire high school football season. He does not have another choice.
This unique set of circumstances creates an unfortunate reality for some of the underclassmen in the South Bay.
They may not get the opportunity to play high school football because of illegal activity that has nothing to do with them. At very least, their snaps will be limited.
What happened to Bishop Montgomery?
Bishop Montgomery High School is located in Torrance, California. The private Catholic school enrolls approximately 1,200 students in grades 9-12.
Its varsity football program will not play another game this season.
The Knights traveled to Hawaii for its season opener and lost by seven. They were immediately embroiled by scandal upon return to the contiguous United States.
Multiple players on the team were deemed ineligible by the California Interscholastic Foundation for a violation of Bylaw 202. Bishop Montgomery accepted more than 20 transfers during the offseason, which raised red flags about their eligibility.
The school ultimately reported multiple violations, fired its head coach earlier this week and announced the forfeiture of the entire season. The Knights finished the year at 0-1.
Kingston Anetema is doing what he can.
Kingston and Kane Anetema are two of the players who transferred. They were cleared to compete but now their season is over before it started.
Some of their teammates are trying to figure out whether they can join a different team in progress because their varsity season has been cancelled. The brothers are taking a different approach.
Kingston Anetema has two scholarship offers from Cal and UConn.
The three-star recruit in the Class of 2027 is still going to play high school football at Bishop in 2025. He is just going to do so on the JV level instead of Varsity.
I do not know of another instance where this has happened. A legitimate Division-I college football prospect is forced to play his junior season of high school football on the JV squad because his teammates’ parents might’ve lied on their transfer paperwork. That has to be a first.