High school football: Bishop Sycamore's season appears over after remaining opponents cancel games

Final three opponents pull out, leaving disgraced charter program with no contests on schedule.

Thumbnail image of this articles writer: Mitch Stephens
By
Sep 1, 2021, 5:15pm
The remaining teams on the Bishop Sycamore (Columbus, Ohio) schedule canceled their games Wednesday, leaving the embattled high school football program with no one to play. The three remaining cancellations came three days after a 58-0 nationally televised loss to defending national champion IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) that shined an unflattering spotlight on the online charter school.

NBC News reported Wednesday it received written statements from St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio), St. Thomas More (Oakdale, Conn.) and St. Frances Academy (Baltimore) stating they dropped the Centurions in games slated for Sept. 24, Oct. 8 and Oct. 22, respectively.

Bishop Sycamore is 0-3 and has been outscored 115-7, but the lopsided scores aren't nearly as disturbing as the fallout and news reported since the team's loss to IMG Academy, the final game of seven from the GEICO ESPN High School Kickoff.

Most concerning was that Sunday's afternoon loss was the Centurions second game in less than two days — it played Friday night — an obvious health risk, especially when the second opponent was No. 2 in the MaxPreps Top 25.
Bishop Sycamore saw its remaining opponents pull out of their games, leaving the embattled high school football program with no games for the 2021 schedule.
Bishop Sycamore saw its remaining opponents pull out of their games, leaving the embattled high school football program with no games for the 2021 schedule.
Photo by Jeff Harwell
Other revelations about the program that have been reported by multiple national media sources:

• Bishop Sycamore used fifth- and sixth-year players;

• It misrepresented facts about alleged recruits;

• It has no physical school address;

• There are claims of unpaid hotel bills and general mismanagement.

All of which led to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine calling on the Department of Education for an investigation.

"Like many Ohioans, I am concerned by the recent reports and questions raised about Bishop Sycamore," DeWine said in a release. "While this weekend's football game brought concerns about the health and safety of players, it also raised red flags about the school's operations."

Red flags caused four opponents cancel games on Monday and three more Tuesday and early Wednesday.

"Our school did its due diligence about the situation," St. Thomas More football coach Ernest Anderson wrote to NBC. "We gathered all the facts and decided to move forward."

On Monday in a national podcast, Bishop Sycamore founder Andre Peterson defended the school and said he was not going to pull the plug on the program. He reportedly fired head coach Roy Johnson, who according to court documents obtained by OutKick,  faces an active warrant out of Delaware (Ohio) and multiple civil lawsuits.

"I can't (quit)," Peterson said Monday. "I have kids (who) are dependent on what we do." 

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