State title favorite Argyle Liberty Christian removed from TAPPS football playoffs - NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
By Google News Sports ·
TAPPS announced that Argyle Liberty Christian has been removed from this year’s football playoffs after the state title favorite had to forfeit games for using an ineligible player.
The state association of private and parochial schools has redrawn its eight-team Division I playoff bracket, and the first round of the playoffs will be delayed one week until Nov. 14 to give teams time to prepare for their new opponents.
During a TAPPS executive board meeting Tuesday, Liberty Christian was found in violation of TAPPS’ “follow the coach” rule. Multiple people with knowledge of the situation told The Dallas Morning News that the athlete in question was wide receiver Jace Johnson, who transferred from Abilene Cooper to Liberty Christian for the 2026 football season.
“It was determined that a transfer student-athlete participated on a 7-on-7 team coached by Liberty Christian assistant football coach Antonio Griffin in the year prior to transferring to Liberty,” TAPPS said in a news release. “Furthermore, the athletic department leadership and football coaching staff knew or should have known of these facts prior to the start of the 2026 football season.”
TAPPS bylaws state that a student who transfers to a member school shall not be eligible for varsity competition in a sport for a period of one year if a coach in that sport at the new school coached or trained the student during the previous 12 months. This includes:
● AAU, select, club, 7-on-7, 6-on-6, or similar team during the previous 12 months.
● Individual or group instruction to the student during the previous 12 months.
● Skills training, fitness training, personal training, or other such training to the student during the previous 12 months.
In TAPPS, unlike in the University Interscholastic League, a DEC…
Originally published by Google News Sports
