Undefeated New York high school football team excluded from playoffs

Fifty-three seconds is enough to change a season, but not in the way you might expect.

An undefeated New York high school football team had its championship hopes dashed because a player – who had spent less than a minute on the field – was ineligible to play.

Middletown High School in Orange County was disqualified from the Section IX Class AA championship after the school district on Friday withdrew its emergency court motion to vacate the disqualification.

The Middies deployed a kicker, then ruled him an “ineligible kickoff specialist,” who played 53 seconds in their 48-15 semifinal win over Valley Central on Nov. 6 without meeting playoff eligibility requirements.

Middletown acknowledged it made a mistake, but disputed that students should not be disqualified for a decision made by adults and that the player had no impact on the game itself.

The decision came after a nearly two-hour hearing at the Orange County Courthouse in Goshen before state Supreme Court Justice Verris Shako.

“Sometimes there are tough decisions to make,” Shako said.

Hudson Valley’s News 12 reported that the courtroom was “filled with football players, students, parents, school officials and community members.”

The player in question had previously competed on the Middletown football team and had not scored on the football team, although he apparently participated in eight kickoffs.

Middletown Superintendent Amy Creeden spoke following the decision.

“While we are deeply, deeply disappointed that we cannot find a cure for our young people, our hearts go out to our football team and cheerleading varsity who have given so much to this remarkable football season and cheerleading season,” Creeden said.

“We pursued this case vigorously because we believe our young people deserved our full defense,” Creeden added. “We have work to do. Our priority now is to support them and their families.”

She also called the team champions despite being eliminated on technical grounds.

“In our hearts, our record is still 10 and 0. We are very proud of our championship team,” Creeden said. “We are Middletown. When we get knocked down, we get back up and we are stronger. We can’t wait to come back next season.”