As ruled by Judge Andrew Santoli, Glenville will be allowed to compete in the high school football playoffs in the state of Ohio. He made his decision in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas on Tuesday afternoon, which may require the University School to forfeit because it did not show up to its game on Saturday.
The entire Division III, Region 9 bracket is in disarray.
The governing body for high school football must now decide whether to postpone the second round until a later date or to require a team that it told not to play to forfeit. There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding what is next.
Glenville is allowed to compete in the Ohio high school football playoffs.
This unusual legal saga started with a decision from Ohio High School Athletic Association on Oct. 29. The governing body for high school sports in the Buckeye State removed Glenville High School from the 2026 football playoffs amid an ongoing investigation into the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. It would not be allowed to continue forth in the postseason.
The OHSAA accused Glenville of rostering high school football players who were not eligible to compete because of where they live. There is an interesting wrinkle to these accusations.
Head coach Ted Ginn Sr. (the father of former NFL wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr.) founded the Ginn Academy. Because the Ginn Academy does not have a high school football program, its students are allowed to play for the Cleveland Metro school that is “closest to their place of residence.” Ginn Sr. allegedly played athletes from the Ginn Academy who actually live closer to a different Cleveland Metro School.
Although the investigation remains ongoing, the OHSAA determined that it had enough reason to remove Glenville from the postseason. Especially because a similar thing happened in 2018.
The Tarblooders were not allowed to compete in the postseason as of Thursday night per the OHSAA. And then it got litigious.
At least two parents of players on the Glenville football team went to court on behalf of their sons on Friday morning. They filed a lawsuit against the OHSAA. Judge Andrew Santoli granted them with a temporary restraining order.
In doing so, he ruled that the first round playoff game between University School and Glenville must be completed before the end of the weekend— meaning Sunday night at 11:59 p.m. The game, which was originally scheduled for Friday night, was moved to Saturday afternoon. The Tarblooders were allowed to play. It was mandated by the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas.
The University School may be required to forfeit because of the judge’s decision.
Glenville was thrilled with Judge Santoli’s decision. The Tarblooders showed up to the field on Saturday afternoon to play the first round playoff game as planned. The Preppers did not. They defied the terms of the court-mandated restraining order and refused to play the game. They were told by the OHSAA on Thursday afternoon that it would not be played so they did not play!
Because the University School did not show up on Saturday, Glenville went right back home after it went through warmups.
And then it showed up to court on Monday for its scheduled hearing with Judge Santoli. The OHSAA and Glenville both gave their testimonies before court was adjourned after five hours. Both parties were asked to return on Tuesday for the closing statement. A verdict was also expected on Tuesday.
Sure enough, that is exactly what happened. Closing arguments wrapped up around 10:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday morning. Judge Santoli made his decision around 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon. Glenville is eligible for the playoffs.
However, it is unclear as to exactly how things are going to unfold.
The Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas said that the OHSAA must figure out the next steps. Either Glenville will play the University School at some point in the next week, which would likely require the second round to be pushed back by seven days, or the University School will be required to forfeit because it did not adhere to the temporary restraining order and did not show up to play the game on Saturday.
There is also a good chance that this legal saga is not over. The Preppers could still decide to go to court on behalf of themselves— especially if they are handed a loss for a game they did not play because they were told their opponent was not eligible.