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Cherry Creek forfeited a game due to an ineligible player.
Cherry Creek High School in Colorado has suffered its first loss since the 2024 season opener amid an eligibility controversy. A player that had previously been cleared to play has since been ruled ineligible for competition.
Head coach Dave Logan opened up on the forfeiture this week, which snapped a 27-game winning streak.
Logan called the punishment “punitive, and way over the top,” according to a report from the Denver Post. He also confirmed that all players on his roster were previously cleared to play before the season opener.
Colorado high school football team forfeits game.
Cherry Creek is the top-ranked program in Colorado. It also boasts a No. 55 national ranking according to MaxPreps.
The Bruins have not lost more than two games in a season since 2017. They’d gone 99-8 over the last eight years with six state titles.
The success continued into 2026. Cherry Creek opened the season with four straight wins, including a 16-15 victory over Colorado’s second-ranked program, Valor Christian.
Now, their first win of the year has been overturned.
The Bruins beat Chatfield 28-15 in late August. It has retroactively been forfeited due to the use of an ineligible player. Their record is now 3-1 after CHSAA penalty. No explanation has been given as to the decision.
Cherry Creek athletic director Jason Wilkins declined to explain why the player was ruled ineligible after the game against Chatfield, citing student privacy. Logan added that CHSAA’s decision to turn the win into a forfeit, which Cherry Creek appealed to no avail, is “really frustrating.”
-Denver Post
Eligibility controversies have swept through high school sports.
I don’t know the specifics in Cherry Creek’s eligibility controversy. Other schools throughout the country, however, have experienced setbacks linked to residence issues of recruited transfers.
In Texas, star quarterback Colton Nussmeier was forced to leave the state for his final season of high school football after an attempted transfer. Meanwhile, stud running back Bo Davis was denied eligibility after his parents pushed for an in-state transfer that was deemed athletically motivated.
In Florida, Carol City High School was forced to forfeit a game against Mainland due to faulty paperwork of transfer students.
In Georgia, top-ranked kicker Ryan Jung was temporarily ruled ineligible before eventually winning an appeal to transfer from IMG Academy.
Cherry Creek’s appeal was not heard. It will forfeit its season opener to snap a long winning streak. The details surrounding the controversy have not been made public, but the pursuit of another undefeated season has effectively been stripped.