Judge denies Boston school's bid for MIAA football playoff spot
Suffolk Superior Court ruled that a scheduling error did not warrant altering the already-started Division 8 bracket.
By Julian Schulz ·
Gillian Feiner, a judge at Suffolk Superior Court, ruled against Boston Public Schools on Friday. The court denied an injunction that would have forced the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association to include the English/New Mission Eagles in the state football playoffs. This decision ends a legal push to reverse a scheduling dispute that has left the team out of the postseason.
The dispute centers on a game played last Friday against O’Bryant. Boston Public Schools officials failed to submit this contest to the ArbiterLive software platform by the September 18 deadline. Under MIAA rule 34.6, schedules are considered final after that date. Because the game was not on the official schedule, the association classified it as a scrimmage rather than a regulation contest. This classification meant the Eagles did not play the required seven games to qualify for playoff consideration.
In its legal filing, the school district argued that the MIAA applied its own rules incorrectly. BPS contended that the O’Bryant game should have been counted as a forfeit loss. If that had happened, the Eagles would have finished with a 4-3 record. That record would have secured them a 15th seed in the Division 8 tournament, which began on Thursday.
Judge Feiner acknowledged the hardship caused by the error. She wrote that the court recognized the omission was inadvertent. She noted that the exclusion is devastating for the student athletes who worked hard to reach the postseason. However, she found that granting the request would require the MIAA to revisit and reconfigure brackets for a tournament already underway. It would also force the displacement of another school, depriving that team’s athletes of the chance to compete.
A BPS spokesperson expressed disappointment in a statement. The spokesperson said tournament eligibility should depend on a team’s record rather than clerical errors. The district stated it will work with the team to recognize their achievements and prevent similar mistakes in the future. An MIAA spokesperson confirmed that the filing for a temporary restraining order was denied. The organization said the football tournament will proceed as scheduled.
The Eagles played a non-playoff game on Thursday. They lost to Pentucket/Georgetown by a score of 48-0. Had the court granted the injunction, the change could have affected several other schools. Ware would have been knocked out of the playoffs entirely under the proposed reconfiguration.
