55-0 Football Win Turns Into Loss For Indiana H.S. Team

MUNCIE — The seventh-best Class 4A high school football team in the state is now winless.

Delta Athletic Director Chris Conley contacted The Star Press on Tuesday evening to report his football team must forfeit both of its victories this season after an ineligible player — who did not meet the Indiana High School Athletic Association requirements of passed courses in the spring — played in both games for the Eagles.

Because of the violation, the Class 4A No. 7 Eagles’ 55-0 win against Jay County and 28-23 win against Fort Wayne Carroll — both home victories — are now losses.

Conley explained athletes’ names were cross-checked with a list of students at the school who were failing classes to ensure eligibility at the beginning of the season for all fall programs.

But the student in question — whom Conley declined to name — was not failing a class. Instead, he had been given an incomplete in a course, which made him ineligible to play but did not include him on the list of students with failures.

As a result, Conley said, the student’s academic standing was overlooked.

The possibility that the team might have been playing with an ineligible player was first brought to Conley’s attention about 20 minutes before Friday’s game against Carroll, the AD said.

“My assumption was that we had done those grade checks,” Conley said of his thought at that moment.

“In retrospect, someone ever says that to me again, I’m going to get on a (four-wheeler) and I’m going to get up to the building in a hurry and look at that. But no, I was quite confident that we had done what we were supposed to do. That’s why I can assure people there was no intentional motive on anyone’s part here.”

By Saturday morning, Conley had come to the conclusion that what had been suggested to him by “a patron at the game” the night before could very well be accurate.

“It’s sickening. I mean that honestly,” Conley said. “I’ve been sick at my stomach since Saturday morning when I first discovered it. I was hoping beyond hope that maybe it was a clerical error and that the incomplete should really be a grade.

“I feel horrible,” Conley said. “The responsibility for the athletic department stops here with me. I’m ultimately responsible for what happens.”

Since the mistake was discovered, Conley and the athletic department secretary have combed through all team rosters to ensure no other academic violations exist. They found none.

And in the future, Conley said, the academic standing check will be made against how many courses student-athletes are passing, rather than how many they are failing.

With two wins now being changed to losses, Delta football suddenly is having a down season — at least in terms of record.

The Eagles have not had two regular-season losses on their record since 2006, when the program finished 9-3. And before that, it was 2003 (8-3) that the Eagles last had two regular-season losses.

The Eagles have not had three or more regular-season losses since 1997 (7-5).

Delta football coach Grant Zgunda got confirmation on Tuesday that his team would be forced to forfeit its first two wins.

“Its an unfortunate situation. I feel bad for the kids. It’s one of those things that it happens, you know,” Zgunda said.

The coach — keeper of a 134-26 record in 14 years at the school — told the team on Tuesday.

“They are hurting and they are going to be hurt,” Zgunda said. “But we have a game to play on Friday. We can’t change it. We’re just going to move on. That’s what I stressed to them. You can go one of two ways: You can fold up and feel sorry for yourselves and blame people or you can say, ’You know what, it happened and we don’t like it but we have a lot of football left to play.’ “

Conley said he was impressed with the way Zgunda handled the news.

“Grant behaved in an incredibly professional manner,” Conley said. “I can assure you that, when I coached, I wouldn’t have behaved as he did.”

The Eagles’ season resumes on Friday with their first road game of the year, a 7 p.m. kickoff at Greenfield-Central (1-1).