University School will advance to the second round of the high school football playoffs in the state of Ohio. Glenville will not. The Eighth District Court of Appeals officially confirmed Salem’s opponent on Thursday, less than 24 hours before kickoff.
The OHSAA set its bracket accordingly.
This decision comes after seven full days of uncertainty. Nobody knew which high school football team would be allowed to play in the second round as the eligibility case went back and forth in the courts.
Glenville was banned from the Ohio high school football playoffs.
Glenville High School is one of the top teams in the Buckeye State. The Tarblooders, led by head coach Ted Ginn Sr. (the father of former NFL wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr.), won the Division IV state championship in 2022, 2023 and 2025. They were moved up to Division III in 2026. They earned the No. 5 seed in the playoffs with eight wins and two losses during the regular season.
Their first game of the postseason was originally scheduled to be played last Friday. And then it was announced last Thursday that Glenville had been banned from the playoffs by the OHSAA due to the alleged use of ineligible athletes. The program is currently under investigation. Ginn Sr. supposedly rostered a group of players from the Ginn Academy, which he founded and does not have a football team, even though they were zoned to play at a different school based on their place of residence.
That was just the beginning of a week-long legal saga.
The Tarblooders were granted a temporary restraining order against the OHSAA last Friday. The judge said that their first-round playoff game must be completed by the end of the weekend — meaning last Sunday night at 11:59 p.m.
As a result, the game was moved to last Saturday afternoon. Glenville arrived to the field and went through warmups as if it was going to play the game. Its opponent, University School, did not. The Preppers never showed up to the field and refused to play the game in direct defiance of the court-mandated restraining order.
All of the other first round games were completed over the past weekend. The second round is scheduled for this coming weekend.
University School will advance to play Salem.
With the game between University School and Glenville incomplete, the judge who granted the Tarblooders with a temporary restraining order put the decision back in the hands of the OHSAA during a two-day hearing on Monday and Tuesday. He ruled that Glenville is eligible to compete and told the OHSAA to determine how to proceed.
The OHSAA could either require one of the two teams to forfeit, or push the second round back by a week so that the first round contest could be completed. Both schools made it abundantly clear that they were going to prepare for the second round.
Glenville thought University School should be required to forfeit because it did not show up to play the game on Saturday. University School thought Glenville should be required to forfeit because it was ruled ineligible to compete by the OHSAA.
As of Wednesday night, it seemed like University School was set to advance to play Salem in the second. However, the OHSAA did not make an official announcement. The official Division III bracket remained incomplete. Salem’s opponent was not set.
That leads us to Thursday afternoon. The Eighth District Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the OHSAA’s request to stop the county court’s order for Glenville to remain in the playoffs.
“Appellant’s motion to stay execution of judgement is granted. Pursuant to this court’s discretionary authority we find that a stay of execution is necessary to preserve the status quo as to the OHSAA ruling sanctioning the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and Glenville High School.”
The Tarblooders are officially ruled ineligible to compete. Their high school football season officially came to an end in the courtroom, not on the field.
The Eighth District Court of Appeals issued a decision Thursday that allows the Ohio High School Athletic Association to sanction Cleveland Metropolitan School District and Glenville High School.
As a result, the OHSAA is able to enforce its Oct. 29 decision to remove Glenville from the playoffs. Hunting Valley University School will advance to play a Division III regional quarterfinal game at Salem Friday night.
“The OHSAA and our member schools are committed to the integrity and fairness of our tournaments,” said Doug Ute, OHSAA Executive Director. “While it is a difficult decision to remove students from a tournament, all member schools must abide by the rules and regulations that they have voted into place and that the OHSAA works to enforce.”
The decision Thursday reinforces the trial court’s decision Tuesday; “The Court … is not asked, nor permitted, to determine who is entitled to play in the Playoffs. It is beyond the scope of this Court’s authority to order that one team be entered into the Playoffs over another, or that one team advance in the Playoffs over another.”
The OHSAA will continue to work with Cleveland Metropolitan School District regarding the participation opportunities for non-enrolled students within their district.
— OHSAA
The Preppers will advance to the second round on Friday night. Everything else remains the same.