By Marty Dubecky, Guest Writer

On the heels of their embarrassing 58-0 defeat on national television to IMG Academy and their ensuing scandal, new Bishop Sycamore (BS) head football coach Tyren Jackson said that Bishop Sycamore is not even a school. Rather, they are merely a post-graduate football program in Ohio.  

The recent revelation is sure to create scheduling problems for high schools teams who currently have Bishop Sycamore on their schedule.

Since the 2020-2021 high school football season, BS had been playing other elite Ohio high school football programs and losing. 

Game scores ranged from 37-14 to 56-6, both resulting in losses. In fact, the football program did not record a single win in their short season. All set to continue their football season this year, Bishop Sycamore scheduled a nationally televised game against IMG Academy on Aug. 29. 

The scandal came to life here. IMG Academy, high school sportscasters or any coaches did not seem to have a proper and updated roster for Bishop Sycamore, nor did anyone seem to know where the school came from or who the coach was despite being pitted against some of the top football programs in the country. 

Bishop Sycamore was even alleged to have multiple Division I recruits, however, that was also proven to be false. 

Their former head coach, Leroy Johnson, had outstanding warrants for his arrest and was fired from the organization when his criminal past was revealed after the IMG game.  

Following the recent unfolding of the Bishop Sycamore story, many Ohio high schools are now faced with a major problem concerning their season. 

After competing against BS last year, many top Ohio football teams were scheduled to play BS again.

That has since changed, as all schools scheduled to play Bishop Sycamore have dropped these games from their schedule. 

This creates an interesting situation for many high schools, most notably top-ranked St. Edward High School in Lakewood. 

Per the Ohio High School Athletic Association regular season regulations for football say the season consists of 10 games. 

While it’s not too far into the season, finding another game to add could prove difficult for Ohio high schools. St. Edward High School recently tweeted that they needed another game for their regular season, and asked readers to contact the athletic director with serious offers. 

Other schools like Massillon Washington and St. Ignatius High School — high ranking Ohio football schools — were also scheduled to play a game against Bishop Sycamore this season, and they’ll likely try to find another opponent. Hopefully, that opponent will be from a real school.