High school football: Nebraska's Gretna ordered to vacate Class A title over ineligible player

The Gretna high school football team went 12-1 in 2021 on its way to a Class A state title with a 7-3 win over Omaha Westside on Nov. 23. On Thursday, the Nebraska School Activities Association ruled the Dragons must vacate the title for using what it deemed as an ineligible player.

According to the Omaha World-Herald, the eight-person board unanimously upheld Executive Director Jay Bellar's ruling the player in question had not made a valid housing change under Association rules. It's the first time in more than a century that a state championship has been vacated, the paper reported. In 1919, Holbrook lost its Class F title for using an ineligible player.

The Gretna player, a junior who had played the two previous seasons at Papillion-LaVista South, played in all 13 games this season for the Dragons. He caught 22 passes for 188 yards and a score, while posting six grabs for 47 yards in the state-title contest.

“It’s on a technicality, that we didn’t have a separation that was on a legal document, in their mind," Gretna Superintendent Rich Beran told the World-Herald, implying the boys parents were separated. “They live in our district, the boy and his dad, but because we don’t have an official document that’s what they’re nailing us on.”

The ruling means there will be no Class A champion listed and the Dragons will return the championship trophy.