Nebraska’s Gretna High School was stripped of a football state championship due to the use of an ineligible player earlier this week.
The Gretna high school football team went 12-1 in 2021 and defeated Omaha Westside on Nov. 23 to win a Class A state title. According to the Omaha World-Herald, Gretna will now have to vacate its championship after an ineligible player played a key role in its season and state championship game win.
The Gretna player in question is a junior who played his first two seasons of high school football at Papillion-LaVista South High School. He played in all 13 games for Gretna this season, catching 22 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown. He registered six receptions for 47 yards in Gretna’s state championship game.
“It’s on a technicality, that we didn’t have a separation that was on a legal document, in their mind,” Gretna Superintendent Rich Beran told the World-Herald. “They live in our district, the boy and his dad, but because we don’t have an official document that’s what they’re nailing us on.”
There will be no Class A champion in Nebraska this season after the ruling, as Gretna will return its championship trophy. Gretna’s 2021 football team is the second in school history to vacate a state title after the boys basketball team suffered the same fate in 1919.
