The Irvington High School girls flag football team has dominated opponents this season, harboring aspirations of winning the state championship for the second time in three years.
However, those title hopes were dashed, after it was ruled that the team used two ineligible players and will have to forfeit three Super Football Conference victories, according to a report posted on NJ.com.
Irvington’s appeal of the ruling was denied by the SFC Executive Committee on Tuesday, May 14.
At the time of the ruling, the Blue Knights, under head coach Kyle Steele, had a 6-0 record, with five wins in the conference. The out-of-conference win was against Mastery Camden.
The Blue Knights hosted BeLOVED Charter on Monday, May 13, winning 14-0.
Irvington’s record has been changed from 7-0 to 4-3.
This season, the Blue Knights were crushing opponents, outscoring them, 193-27. Of the seven games, five were by shutouts.
One of their conference wins was against defending state champion Ridgewood. The Blue Knights avenged last year’s SFC playoff title loss to Ridgewood. Last year’s loss to Ridgewood denied the Blue Knights a shot at defending their state title.
Despite not being able to win a second straight state championship last year, the Blue Knights were one of five teams in the nation invited to play in the second Nike Football Kickoff Classic. They traveled cross-country to Beaverton, Ore., for the tournament that included teams from California, Nevada and Illinois and took first place.
In 2021, Irvington played in the first-ever state championship game at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, but lost to Passaic County Tech. The following year, they played in the state title game again, this time at the New York Jets facility in Florham Park, where they defeated Hawthorne.
Ridgewood received the No. 1 seed in the SFC playoffs, which will begin Wednesday, May 15.
About the Author
