The Arizona Interscholastic Association has ruled that the Douglas High School football program will forfeit all of its wins this season.
The Douglas Dispatch was first to report the violations, which include players on the team not having the proper paperwork after transferring to Douglas and players practicing without proper paperwork on file.
The Douglas Unified School District met with the team Thursday to inform it of more than 30 violations. The Bulldogs were 6-2 this season and play at Palo Verde on Friday night. The 2018 season has been a remarkable turnaround for Douglas, which went winless last year in 26-year-old coach James Fitzgerald's first season. Douglas won its first five games this year for its best start since 1981.
Violations will be in effect until Oct. 15, 2019. Douglas interim athletic director Katie Walker told the Douglas Dispatch that any further violation in that time frame would result in harsher punishment for the athletic department.
"We are reinstating procedures to make sure this does not happen again," Walker said. "I want to make it clear that this is no student's fault that these violations have occurred. ... I apologize because the adults have failed you."
Douglas High School announced it is conducting an internal investigation.
