Perfect season, crushed dreams: Middletown varsity football team ousted over eligibility blunder
Twenty-seven seniors are facing the end of their historic season after an adult mistake cost Middletown its shot at a sectional championship. Players and parents are calling for the decision to be reversed.
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Middletown High School football players and their families are speaking out after an eligibility violation cost the undefeated team its chance to compete for a sectional championship.
“Our season just got robbed,” said senior Tyrell Glover. “There’s 27 seniors on the team and some of us may never put a football helmet on ever again. The mistake wasn’t on us. It was adults and now we have to pay for it.”
The Middletown Middies finished their regular season 9-0 — the program’s first undefeated regular season since 1961 — and defeated Valley Central 48-15 in Friday’s Section IX Class AA semifinal.
But their celebration was short-lived.
On Monday, district officials announced the team would be forced to forfeit its playoff victory after discovering that a player had not met the minimum regular-season participation requirement for postseason eligibility.
Superintendent Amy Creeden says the player was eligible during the regular season but had not met an additional postseason requirement. She says the player participated for just 53 seconds in a postseason game. The district voluntarily reported the violation, which officials attributed to an unintentional mistake by adults responsible for interpreting the eligibility rules.
Section IX denied the district’s request for a waiver. A subsequent appeal to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association was also denied.
The decision leaves Middletown out of Saturday’s championship game against Newburgh Free Academy.
“We cried on the field. We was crawling through mud. We made history,” Glover said, recalling the team’s victories over Cornwall and Minisink Valley.
Glover says football means much more to the players than winning games.
“Most of us play football to clear our minds from things and focus. Some of us only play football to go to school,” he said. “Football is a motivation for us, and it’s very unfortunate that it’s just taken away from us because of an adult.”
Glover's mother, Denise Sampson, says the news has devastated families across the community.
“We are hurting. The community is hurting,” Sampson said.
She shared video with News 12 showing the excitement at Friday’s playoff game, with cheering parents, celebrating players and stadium lights flashing in celebration. She says fire trucks were also part of the festivities.
Just three days later, the players learned their season was over.
“They worked so hard on the field. Blood, sweat and tears. To see this moment being taken from them is devastating,” Sampson said.
She believes the adults responsible for the mistake should face consequences without punishing the players.
“You can discipline an adult without destroying a child’s dream,” Sampson said.
The mother says her son and his teammates have been left in tears, struggling to understand how their historic season could end this way.
“This is his senior year, so you never get this moment back,” she said.
Middletown Mayor Joseph DeStefano is also calling for the forfeit to be reversed. In a letter to state athletic officials and Education Commissioner Betty Rosa, he urged an immediate review and asked officials to consider penalties that would not take away the team’s championship opportunity.
The mayor argues that the punishment is disproportionate if the violation did not affect the outcome of the game.
In a statement to News 12, NYSPHSAA Executive Director Dr. Robert Zayas acknowledged the disappointment surrounding Middletown’s forfeiture, particularly for the student-athletes, but said eligibility rules must be applied fairly and consistently across all member schools.
Zayas added that any exceptions must be permitted under the association’s existing rules, which are established and approved by its member schools.
The school district says it is working with legal counsel to explore further options, although officials have acknowledged that reversing the decision may be difficult.
For the players and families, the hope is that something can still be done before Saturday.
“This is not fair,” Sampson said. “We are not asking for special treatment. We are just asking for fairness.”
“We are just teenagers that wanna play football,” Glover said.
