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CLEVELAND -- The Salem football team still doesn’t know who will be Friday’s opponent.
A Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas judge’s decision reinstated Cleveland Glenville into the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s playoffs on Tuesday.
Judge Andrew J. Santoli ruled against the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s determination that Glenville be removed from the playoffs due to using ineligible players.
The court order included additional findings that the OHSAA said it will challenge in appellate court in Cleveland on Wednesday morning.
“More information regarding Salem's playoff opponent this Friday will be released Wednesday,” the OHSAA said. “The OHSAA has stayed in communication with Salem and appreciates the school's cooperation and patience.”
In his decision, Santoli wrote that OHSAA’s decision was arbitrary because it was made before the investigation was completed.
Fifth-seeded Glenville was removed from the playoffs on Oct. 29 before it was set to host 12th-seeded University School on Oct. 30. Last Friday, a court order put a hold on Glenville being kicked out of the playoffs, but University School said it would not play the Tarblooders when the game was rescheduled for Saturday afternoon.
Glenville showed up for a game on Saturday, but no officials were assigned by OHSAA.
Fourth-seeded Salem is set to host either Glenville or University School on Friday and the court ordered OHSAA to either reschedule the University-Glenville game, declared that University forfeited the game on Saturday or find some other remedy.
The OHSAA agrees with the court's conclusion within the order:
"The court emphasizes that it is not asked, nor permitted, to determine who is entitled to play in the playoffs. It is beyond the scope of this court's authority to order that one team be entered into the playoffs over another, or that one team advance in the playoffs over another."
The lawsuit was brought by two student-athletes from Glenville, the OHSAA said.
It stems over the OHSAA removing the Tarblooders from the playoffs as part of an ongoing investigation into Cleveland Metropolitan School District inaccurately assigning athletic participation to Glenville.
Students who attend Ginn Academy can only participate in athletics at the Cleveland Metro school closest to their residence.
The OHSAA said “63 of the 64 student-athletes on the Glenville football roster this season do not attend Glenville High School and Cleveland Metro has not successfully proven that many of those student-athletes should have been participating at Glenville.”
“Cleveland Metro and Glenville have not met the participation regulations and expectations that were set in 2007 when Ginn Academy opened. Glenville was removed from the football playoffs in 2018 for violations of these and OHSAA regulations. The lack of administrative control by Cleveland Metro and Glenville will result in additional penalties and do not meet the expectations of the other 812 member schools of the OHSAA.”
Glenville has won three state championships in the last four years.
“Since the middle of last week, Glenville and Cleveland Metro has submitted conflicting residential documentation of numerous student-athletes on the Glenville football team,” the OHSAA said.
The Salem Quakers are watching and waiting to see what happens to Friday’s game, which is still on the OHSAA’s website against an undetermined opponent.