Ohio ‘High School’ Scams Its Way Into Nationally Televised Football Game, Controversy Follows

An Ohio ‘high school’ football team is accused of lying to play a nationally televised football game on Sunday.

The matchup between IMG Academy and Ohio’s Bishop Sycamore was broadcast on ESPN. IMG, known for its elite players, beat Bishop Sycamore 58-0, leading to questions about how the school got there. Even the games announcers commented that Bishop Sycamore didn’t seem to belong on the field.

The school reportedly lied about having several highly recruited players on their team to play. The company that schedules the games for ESPN, Paragon Marketing, was unaware the team played a game on Friday night. And now questioned have surfaced about whether the school actually exists. 

The Grio found that the school seems to be an online school based out of Columbus, Ohio. The supposed school’s website has since been taken down, but the outlet says its online blog contained a number of red flags.

Bishop Sycamore is not a recognized institution, according to the Ohio High School Athletic Association. Information about the team, including physical location, roster eligibility, and practice facilities, were unverifiable.

It’s rumored that the players on the team were not even high school age. Some have allegedly already graduated or are junior college team dropouts.

“We regret that this happened and have discussed it with Paragon, which secured the matchup and handles the majority of our high school event scheduling. They have ensured us that they will take steps to prevent this kind of situation from happening moving forward,” ESPN said in a statement.

After the incident gained national attention, it was announced that the school’s coach, Roy Johnson, was fired. School director Andre Peterson told USA Today that the decision was made Sunday after the IMG game but was not announced until Tuesday.

But Peterson stopped short of calling it a firing. “I value him as a person, but I just thought right now he needed to step down, he needed to go. We just decided to mutually part ways,” he said.

Johnson also allegedly has outstanding warrants for fraud charges.