New Ruling Leads to Canceling West Virginia HS Football Play-In Games

In the latest development in the mess that has been the West Virginia high school football season, a new ruling on Friday means the play-in games scheduled for Saturday afternoon will now not take place.

This news comes just a few days after contradictory rulings led to the original start of the postseason being postponed. The playoff will now be delayed at least another week.

Earlier in the week, the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission officially announced that the state high school football playoffs for all four classes will be postponed because of ongoing litigation.

The executive director of the WVSSAC David Price released a statement about the decision as part of the press release.

“We are extremely disappointed to not be having the playoffs this weekend,” said Price. “We understand the frustration from all of the parties involved, and we want nothing more than to put the focus back on the student-athletes and their pursuit of a championship. However, we must abide by the decisions of the courts and their timeline.”

The issue stems from a recent injunction granted Saturday in Wood County that changed the playoff ratings system, causing four projected playoff teams to be replaced by four teams that otherwise would not qualified for postseason play.

This resulted in Hampshire, Point Pleasant, Westside and Tolsia losing playoff spots to Capital, St. Albans, Lincoln and St. Marys.

But a ruling late Monday night created chaos. Mason County Circuit Judge Anita Ashley initially issued an order to play play-in games in the Class AAA playoffs for the right to be among the top 16.

Based on contradictory rulings, West Virginia’s Supreme Court of Appeals will now have to determine the true outcome in the coming days.

Stay with WV Sports Now for more on this developing story commencing West Virginia high school football.