One of the top teams in Texas and the presumed favorite in the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools Division I championship scene has been removed from postgame contention due to using an ineligible player.
Greg Riddle of The Dallas Morning News reported Tuesday night, Nov. 3, that Argyle Liberty Christian was the team that received the postseason ban and also had to forfeit games.
According to Riddle's report, the player in question was senior receiver Jace Johnson. Johnson transferred to Liberty Christian from Abilene Cooper ahead of the season.
A TAPPS executive board meeting held on Tuesday found that the program was found in violation of the “follow the coach"
rule.
“It was determined that a transfer student-athlete participated on a 7-on-7 team coached by Liberty Christian assistant football coach Antonio Griffin in the year prior to transferring to Liberty,” a news release from TAPPS reads. “Furthermore, the athletic department leadership and football coaching staff knew or should have known of these facts prior to the start of the 2026 football season.”
Griffin is Liberty Christian's defensive backs coach and also Johnson's coach for his 7-on-7 program, Lionhearted Elite. In a local district executive committee meeting held last week, it was recommended to the state executive board that Griffin be suspended for the remainder of the season and Johnson be ruled ineligible, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Per TAPPS bylaws, students who transfer to another member school are not eligible for varsity competition in a sport for a year if a coach for that certain sport at their new school either coached or trained that athlete in the previous year.
That includes AAU, select, club, 7-on-7, 6-on-6, individual or group instruction, skills training, fitness training, or personal training.
With Liberty Christian's exclusion from the postseason, the eight-team Division I playoff bracket and first round of the postseason has been delayed a week to Nov. 14. The Warriors were 7-3 on the year and 6-0 in district play They were scheduled to open postseason play by hosting Austin St. Michael (TX) this week.
Before this season, the Warriors had been coached by former Dallas Cowboys All-Pro tight end and new Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jason Witten. Witten's son Cooperis a five-star Oklahomalinebacker commit whose senior season has not come to an end.
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: Texas high school football team, state title favorite banned from postseason
