On Friday night, Piner High School (Santa Rose, CA) was scheduled to play Archie Williams (CA) in what was supposed to be the program's sixth game of the season.
Instead, the team was forced to forfeit a day after a student-led walkout at the school following comments the team's captain made earlier in the month.
According to a report from Gus Morris of The Press Democrat, the forfeit came because the Prosectors had only five healthy linemen. However, the lack of players likely stemmed from a situation that began earlier in the month.
Previuosly, one of Piner's team captains posted "Free the Cornell 7" to his Instagram regarding the situation where seven Cornell University students were accused of gang raping another Cornell student back in 2024
during a fraternity party.
SFGATE reported that the player in question did not attend the team's dinner Thursday night, but it was unclear whether he faced any other consequences.
However, students at the school did not feel the player who made the post faced any accountability, leading to the walkout on the same day as the team's next football game.
With the forfeit loss, Piner drops to 2-4 and has lost its last three games after starting the season 2-1. They're scheduled to return to the field on Oct. 16 with a home game against Healdsburg (CA).
Follow Sports Reporter Joe Spears on X at @joe_spears7 or via email: JSpears@usatodayco.com. For additional high school sports coverage, be sure to follow USA TODAY High School Sports on Instagram and X.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: California high school football team forfeits game amid controversy
