Northern Guilford football winning streak has ended:Nighthawks forfeit game to Burlington Williams

What was a 34-game winning streak has ended for the Northern Guilford football team….The streak will now have ended at 31 games and it all ends because Northern used too many JV players in a Varsity football game….Northern turned themselves in for the violation and the NCHSAA found this to be in viloation of eligibility rules…..Always fans speculating about Northern and their football team, but I do not think anyone ever dreamed it they would see a streak end like this…..Seems to be they were guilty of giving too many younger players a chance to play in a game that was already decided and you are letting the younger players see some time with the older players in the Varsity game…..

But the rules are rules and Northern principal Will Laine lays that out when you read below…..Kind of a crazy way to see it all end, but you have to do what you have to do, and Northern has done that and so has the NCHSAA…..

Ww will now have to go about changing the records in our standings…..

‘The Streak’ Ends and it comes to a halt on Friday the 13th……
*****At the end of the game, Northern Guilford was leading 49-7 and that score will now become an official forfeit and stand at 7-0 Burlington Williams, if my old studies in the officiating class were correct….*****(Basketball 2-0 forfeit, baseball 9-0 and football 7-0 or someplace in that neighborhood.)

Coming in today from the News and Record staff reports and the Press Release from the Guilford County Schools……

Press Release from the Guilford County Schools published this afternoon at the News and Record.com….www.news-record.com

Greensboro, N.C. — Guilford County Schools announced today that Northern High School reported an athletic-eligibility violation to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.

The violation occurred during the Friday, Sept. 13, game against Williams High School. According to NCHSAA rules, up to 12 junior varsity players are allowed to play in a varsity game. Thirteen junior varsity players participated in the Sept. 13 contest, one player over the allowed number.

School officials discovered the mistake the day after the game and immediately reported it to district staff. District officials reported the violation to the NCHSAA, which determined this was an eligibility violation. Northern will forfeit the win against Williams, essentially ending a 32-game winning streak.

“Our students, staff and community are disappointed that this happened, and that we have to forfeit last week’s game,” said Northern Principal Will Laine. “But the most important thing we can teach our students is to follow the rules. When you make a mistake, you own up to it and work to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

69 thoughts on “Northern Guilford football winning streak has ended:Nighthawks forfeit game to Burlington Williams

  1. It is unfortunate that young people must suffer the consequences for the short comings of adults. A very simple way to have prevented this; don’t dress more than 12 JVs if the rules say you can’t play more than 12.

  2. They did turn themselves in and you hate it, cause I don’t think playing an extra JV kid was going to effect the 49-7 outcome of the game….Younger kids getting time against the older kids, but as it was stated earlier the rules are the rules and Northern admitted their wrong doing…..

  3. My son is one of those JV players. So honored to have a chance to play in the game. Northern has a great program and is a class act. They have integrity and held themselves accountable. Go Nighthawks. Still proud.

  4. I hate to see it end like this. I ran a program that fielded 6 youth teams aging from 7-12. The team I coached went 18-0 before loosing their 1st game in 4 OT’s. The politics and red tape can be the hardest thing to manage. It appears to me NG was trying to utilize everyone. Hate to see it end like this. I wish now they could have lost to Reidsville in OT. Like my team losing in OT was honorable.

  5. Nighthawk Mom–

    I hope your son knows that he has absolutely NO REASON to hang his head in shame! This was a mistake that NORTHERN realized and NORTHERN bought it to the attention of the proper people. Also–that does not mean that they are not in contention to still become State Champions. I applaud the integrity and honesty of the Northern staff.

  6. They do have a history of doing things like this, I wonder what is next… just saying

    Editor’s note….What you were mentioning about a coach was in the news, but there is really no need to be throwing gas on a fire right now, the current situation is bad enough to stand on its own…Piling on and roughing can get kind of crazy and out of hand too and you have to remember the kids are ones that are suffering the most here…

  7. Interesting notes on some of the 8 quarter rules for JV players in the Varsity games were available over at the News and Record site and here is part of that list of rules and this one really stands out…..

    ?Following the game(Varsity), a status report on the designated players must be completed which shall include the names of all freshman and sophomore junior varsity football player(s) designated and dressed as emergency players and report the number of quarter(s) in which each athlete actually played. Any portion of a quarter equals a quarter played. If a player dresses out but does not play, record as “0” quarters played. Form must be signed by coach, athletic director and principal and submitted on line to the NCHSAA by the first school day after the varsity contest.

    I will add the link for these rules over the next few minutes…CLICK HERE for that link…..

    Always heard that it would end for Nothern, and we knew it would sometime, but nobody ever dreamed it(‘The Streak’) would end like this…

  8. Tip of the iceberg. This is a day at he beach compared to what’s coming. Northern is he Miami of hih school football. I TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN!!!!

  9. Dr. Doom. I have seen your comments on here several times. I wonder why you seem to take delight in This and continue to speak of more to come? Northern has been a great program for my son. Many parents choose to move into our district because they want to be on a winning team. I have seen these coaches and they truly care for the kids. Most folks here are just hard working folks who want to enjoy Friday night lights and watch dreams come true for their sons. Success should breed success, not haters. This is a good thing for all high schools in the area.

  10. The funny thing is you guys talk like they are all normal 9th and 10th grade JV players that just about every team in the state uses. Northern got busted for using a bunch of Jr’s on JV and the thought didn’t cross their minds that you still have to 8 quarter those kids. Getting sloppy over there Northern. Better be careful before the big stuff comes to light!

  11. No problem Nighthawk Mom with the kids that move into district. That is well within the rules of the NCHSAA. Shady as heck but well within the rules. What Northern has been doing is going out finding kids and transfers them into their school without moving them. They tell GCS its for academics but its for Football. They find classes that Northern offers that they don’t offer at other schools then pretend its about education. Too bad one of your transfers was busted on the new rule this year and has been standing on the sidelines all season thus far. Considering he practiced with them team all preseason they should be punished for that as well. If he would have stayed at Dudley he could be playing right now.

  12. Just another day at Northern! They should give them the Football death penalty. Maybe they would learn to follow the rules after they could not field a team for 1 season!

  13. Not saying the Coaches don’t care for the kids. I’m sure they do….Just saying they should try and build a program with the kids from Summerfield and Browns Summit. Not kids that live 2 minutes from Dudley and drive to Northern everyday cause a bus doesn’t come that far!

  14. What Andy? Those younger kids ARE JR’S!!!! They played a ton of JR’s against Page, NW, and Burlington and when they suited up Friday night at Burlington they were in violation of the NCHSAA 8 quarter rule! Northern is dirty quit acting like they were giving some poor Freshman a chance to play!

  15. Page still holds the Guilford County records for consecutive regular season wins (50, 1983-88) and games unbeaten (46, 1982-85).

  16. Ya who cares Pager? Let’s get back to bashing Northern. We can’t do it on the field so let’s keep beating them up on here. LMAO

  17. I just cannot believe that NORTHERN GUILFORD of all schools would ever have any ELIGIBILTY ISSUES OR EVER HAVE TO FORFIET A GAME IN ANY SPORT!!!!!

  18. I’m a student at NGHS.

    All you older adults need to chill out. NG made a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes. And what you call “cheating” is just a mistake on the coaches part. All you know how to do is hate on Northern. All you do is find the bad things at Northern and highlight that stuff. We are a school of excellence. With or without football. We made a mistake, but WE OWNED UP TO IT. Even with that ONE extra JV player it wouldn’t have changed the blowout of a score. Northern Guilford strives for excellence, on and off the field. All you jerks know how to do is hate on us. PLUS, you’re hating on a bunch of 15-18 year old kids. You may think you’re taking about the administration but when you talk junk about Northern, you’re talking about all 2,100 of us students. So is that what your morals are these days? Make fun of and bring down a bunch of kids? Yeah, your real classy aren’t you? So do me a favor. Drop it. Just stop talking about it. You can say and hate all you want but in the end Northern Guilford will always be a school with honor, dignity, and class. Which means more to us then a stupid football game. SO PUT ON YOUR BIG BOY PANTS AND GROW UP.
    Thanks.

  19. You guys owned up to it before the NCHSAA found out and made you forfeit the whole season! Quit acting like you guys are a bunch of class acts! What about all those JR’s playing against Freshman on Thursday nights Class acts?

  20. 2100 of you? Why do you play 3A Football with more students than most 4A Schools? Go to Bed its a school night!

  21. 2100 students at Northern Guilford?
    Why are you still 3A?
    Ragsdale has only 1300 and some change and they have to be in 4A.

  22. 2,100 students? That would make Northern 4AA!! What? Are they fibbing about their ADM numbers now too?

    nvm, you talk about big boy pants? stay down in 3A……

  23. I’m a varsity player playing on Thursdays. I tore y’all up every Thursday and y’all salty bout it bc I did the same stuff on Fridays. Y’all can’t do nothing bout it and you should be able to stop players of any age/grade…btw jvs a joke so don’t get hurt about it and I enjoyed running your kids Thursday and Friday

  24. Hey Doc,
    Is this what is about to come out on NG?
    Did they CREATIVELY alter their attendance numbers so they could play 3A sports instead of 4A?

  25. 41/24 you are bad thats why they make you play on Thursdays. I don’t see 6 or 5 playing on Thursdays and they are Jr’s…Funny thing is I saw a couple Freshman truck you! HAHAHAHA!

  26. Okay. Let’s think about this.

    Junior varsity player. Likely an underclassman. Likely put on the roster only because he works his butt off in practice and the coaches thought he deserved to don the pads on a Friday instead of a Thursday.

    The game is a massive blowout. The kid on the sidelines was just that—on the sidelines. He was a non-factor. He didn’t matter. He didn’t matter in the four other wins we had this season either.

    I mean, I’m not even going to argue with you people. Anyone who is delusional enough to believe that a JV player let only on the team as pity (perhaps) is not worth our time. You “haters” are all hilarious. Talking about records twice our age… I can’t. I can’t deal with your ignorance anymore.

    Fellow Nighthawks, we did nothing wrong. A coach made a nice gesture and we end up paying a severe price for it. Go figure.

    It’s only natural that people hate success. And we are the very definition of success, of dominance. Now sleep this off. You’ll feel better about yourself in the morning.

  27. Good time for everyone to go to bed….

    This will probably make the Northern Guilford varsity football team a stronger group in the end…

    The are a good group of kids and they will still have a good season….

    They work hard and remember they are still just kids and they do not deserve harsh treatment for a mistake that was made….

    Many of you have had the chance to jump on this issue tonight and when you go too far you begin to attack the kids and that is not right….

    You wouldn’t want anyone attacking or coming after your kids or your team…..

    Time for all of this to come to a close and for all of the fans to go back to being fans of their teams…

    You make yourself look bad when you begin to glory in the misfourtune of others….

    That can work for college and the pros, but it does not go good for high school where the kids are still just kids….

    Time to kick, punt and pass on/out for the night…

    *****Just a thought, I don’t see a JV player effecting the Varsity outcome…My thought would be Northern was trying to give the JV players some Varsity experience for the future….JV players Juniors, Sophomores or Freshmen are not going to be a major bearing on a Varsity game….Don’t know why everybody is glad to see a team end up with a loss….But that’s seems to be the way it is….NG is a good group of kids and we need to more to support them….You guys are not doing a good job of trying to win them over….Guilford County needs to and they ought to stick together….The loss is on their record now, so maybe the anti-Northern fans can move on….Hope we can all move on….Not always good to glory in others misfortune….Do you want to see your brother and sister fall???In sports we are all in it together and it is like a family….Problem is Guilford County seems to be becoming a dysfunctional sports family…Let’s get back together and start supporting each other again…..*****

  28. Comments back up as long as they can be done sensibly and responsibly and we will see how long that lasts…

  29. I am getting really tired of the people calling Northern out. If you have proof, go to the fair play website, get the number and turn them in. Otherwise, don’t waste your breath. We all know that parents will find ways to circumvent the system. It happens at EVERY school. If you can’t handle this, move somewhere else. To continually complain is useless. You are proving what we have known all along. Some adults just won’t grow up.

  30. I will admit that I am not a NG fan and in fact quite the opposite. I can’t stand NG. I never thought I would find myself defending NG, but I have to admit that this is a lousy way for them to end their winning streak and lousy for their kids. I understand the penalty. But I would venture to guess that there are other football coaches who have accidentally violated this rule and it has gone unreported. This violation was clearly not on purpose, and there was no competitive advantage. This really should be an offense with a fine and no forfeit, but it is what it is. I never thought I would EVER feel bad for NG, but I have to admit that in this situation I do feel bad for their coaches and kids. Their school showed integrity by self-reporting it and set a good example for their kids, so what else can you say.

  31. Last time something like this happened heads rolled. Can’t wait to see whose head rolls now. If you have a varsity football team let them play
    Why play j.v.s. they play on Thursday. Just another example of them trying to beat the system99Rr

  32. Northern has found a way to beat the system. Check and see how many players at Northern were at Dudley to start their careers. How many of said kids are living in rental houses owned by a unknown person. One that is right across the street from Northern that has housed some of the best players to ever walk the halls at Northern. Do you really for one second think that GCS is going to go after that? They already know about it! Its just a matter of time before the big stuff hits the fan.

  33. Andy,

    Maybe we can get a long more when other schools start playing by the same rules as everyone else.

    Northern needs to Quit going after talent on other teams in the off season.

  34. I am not a Northern Guilford parent but I do applaud the organization for coming forward with the violation. This is not a Northern issue … this is a Guilford County Schools issue. The culture within the district is to not live by or enforce the”missions” or policies set forth. It is about wins over character development. Putting mission statements, Fair Play and Booster club policies on paper but not enforcing them is worse than not having them. There are multiple infractions against these policies and mission statements, from just one sport and from just one school (not just Northern). Some of these infractions have been brought forward to the county up to the level of Mr. Greens office, and the violators are still part of the system. Kudos to Northern for having a higher integrity level than the county!

  35. Much of what smoke and fire talked about happened during a prior adminstration and has been handled already by the County and the NCHSAA…

    There was much denial with the basketball offenses and that really got a lot of people upset/angry/mad….

    No denial with this issue, Northern turned themself in…The team will suffer the most with the now conference loss when it comes to playoff seeding time…That will change their playoff travel plans for sure…

    With any players from Dudley that are now at Northern, the County had to approve the transfers and that is on the County and if they cleared it, they had to have a reason for it….

    Academic allowances still happen and if the County sees fit to do, they do it and they have to live with it….

    Northern has taken a hit and they fessed up and they are taking their punishment….

    That should be enough….

  36. They would have never turned themdrlves in if they thought they could get away with it. Let’s wait and see what thr mighty county ad does. Probably nothing. Just sitting back and waiting to see what they do next.

  37. I just took a look at the NCHSAA website, Football section,”2013-14 Football information from Handbook” link. The “Eight Quarter Participation” rules/guidelines are prominently and clearly stated. The thing that is curious to me is that per the guideline, the players that will be participating under this guideline (maximum of 12 during the regular season) “must be predetermined prior to dressing for competition”. So, it appears to me that someone at NG blundered in a big way. The rule is clear.

    The thing is, if you read the guideline, the intent of the Eight Quarter Participation rule is to provide varsity teams with additional depth in an “emergency” situation. It allows younger players to gain playing experience, AT THE JV LEVEL, but be available in the event of an emergency situation for a limited amount of varsity play. My impression is that Northern, along with many other schools I’m sure, use the rule instead primarily to give younger players experience at the varsity level, not for reasons related to “emergency depth situations”, but because they want to develop the younger players faster, for their benefit in future years. Because Northern has been so successful in recent years, and has won many games handily, they have had many opportunities to use this rule to their advantage, more than many other schools. But, apparently, somebody at Northern forgot to make sure they followed the rule as to how many kids they could do this with.

    Northern clearly did not gain an advantage in the Williams game by playing the 13th JV player. But, they did gain an advantage in a game or games next near or the year after.

    I’m certainly willing to give the Northern folks the benefit of the doubt that it was an honest mistake, but let’s don’t fool ourselves into thinking that there’s something unjust about the consequences.

  38. Northern turned themselves in before the NCHSAA found out and made them forfeit the entire season! Don’t let them fool you

  39. Time to take a break for lunch and then open things back up in the 1 o’clock hour….Try and limit your comments to one per E-mail if possible, if not you tend to repeat yourself….

  40. What a shame for the kids who worked very hard to keep their streak going. I don’t believe the coach was intentionally trying to do wrong. The wrong is guilford county schools hiring coaches that are not qualified as head coaches. They should know the rules. I know that rule infractions have happened at NE with players not having physicals and infractions on travel but that has been swepted under the rug. When you hire a new headcoach he should have a knowledge of all the rules. Also williams may knock a team out of the playoffs for a win they didn’t get. What a shame.

  41. Poor “kid” that “transferred” over to Northern could still be playing for a better team instead riding the pine………….a lesson in Karma……..smh

  42. Too convenient to just mean a simple rules violation. Reporting yourself instead of letting someone else implies that you have something to hide.

  43. The NCHSAA decision was not a “let’s get NG” response. Nor is NG the first team to have to forfeit a game for violations of the 8 qtr rule. In 2010 Albemarle had to forfeit three games because the coach misunderstood the rules and allowed junior JV players to play on Thursday and Friday nights, when only freshmen and sophomore JV players are allowed to play both nights. Junior JV players can play Thursday or Friday, not both. Both Albemarle and NG were completing the required paperwork when they realized their error. I daresay one could find some schools who never complete the paperwork and play JVs whenever or however they like.

  44. The funny thing is the Jr’s at Northern that are playing on JV would be starting if Northern didn’t go to Dudley and pick up all those talented players!

  45. In so many of these cases you need to be preaching to the parents, not to the football coaches…The parents are the ones moving their kids around…Parents would be more of the culprits than the schools..

  46. Andy,

    I hear ya…BUT its not like the coaches are just hanging out and the school waiting on the talent to show up. They have a couple coaches on staff who are private coaches in the off season…. I wonder is GCS knows about that? They work with several kids from different area schools during the offseason. They coach kids privately in the offseason then get Mom and Dad to get their kids into Northern.

  47. I thought you couldn’t have a private job that related to the sport you coached and also coach? Northern is always into something!

  48. You would have to think that the County Schools would have tougher clamps on something like that and if it is allowed, why isn’t everybody else doing it?

    Other schools might be doing this too and if it is the use of personal trainer, he must be a good salemsn too, to be able to sell parents on this and the parents must have a load of money to pay for a personal football coach and then go out and move to a new school district…

    Have not heard of this before, but if it is going on at one place, you would think it might be going on at other schools too…

    Bottom line is somebody has got a lot more money than I ever would to be making moves like that…..

  49. If thats true about the coach he has to sign papers saying what involment he has with any players in the offseason. If he is not reporting this he should be dismissed

  50. Also anyone connected to the school cannot ask any player to come to transfer to their school. That would be considered iillegal recruiting.

  51. Time to shut this down for a while again and one more floating to think about as we break for a while,

    “How does everybody know so much about everybody else around here???” This is a big county….

    Stops to make along the way and we will close this out later on today….

    *****One more note and you won’t here from me again for some time….Why do you need a personal trainer? Train at the school for FREE….Southeast Guilford did and look at them, they are (5-0)..*****

  52. My son is a starting varsity player for Northern, I have seen first hand the amount of effort and dedication it takes for these players to be successful at this level, on the field and in the classroom, for as long as they have. It is shameful the amount of BS and speculation that people who have no first hand knowledge of the program will write. We have been fortunate to have excellent coaches, all cleared by GCS who dedicate themselves to our sons. As a parent, the amount of paperwork and proof that we have to supply the athletic department to prove eligibility is ridiculous, and we have to file it every year. There is no doubt that Northern played 13 JV players in the 49-7 victory over Williams but that was failure of the administration for approving so many, not the coaches, and not the players. It is a failure of the NCHSSA for penalizing the young men who earned the victory and not the administration for creating the problem

  53. The administration should be punished? Its the Coaching staff that decides who their 8 quarter kids are….mainly the HEAD COACH! He’s the one who should be accountable there for Northern was handed a loss. Rules are Rules you break take the punishment. Lucky they turned it in themselves if it would have went on a couple more weeks northern could have been in danger of missing the playoffs!

  54. Pretty harsh punishment for players and coaches who are first class and put in the work to be champions. My son was one of the JV players who was honored to be selected to be in the game with such a great class of varsity players and coaching staff. Nighthawk Nation is a family. We will be even better for this and streak ends on the field!

  55. Agree…..some parents think if they don’t hire some big money trainer that was a 3rd string NFL player their son won’t get a D1 offer!

  56. Nighthawk Mom,

    You still don’t understand the 8 quarter rule!!! Its not for working hard and being rewarded! If you work that hard and are that good you should be on Varsity! The Rulebook states its for emergency depth! Northern broke the rule and took a loss for it! Learn the rules!!!

  57. He was there for emergency depth. Starter lost his helmet, auto sits out a play, my son subbed for him. I think that is called emergency depth! Jus sayin! Goodnight all you armchair quarterbacks who think they know the deal. Go Nighthawks!

  58. The 8 quarter rule is in effect so young kids are not playing back to back Full Contact Football games every week. The Human body doesn’t need to go through that much punishment without having time to fully recover. Playing Kids in back to back nights could result is lifelong injuries down the road. The rules are in place for a reason!

  59. There is no black and white in the rule! Follow it or take the loss! Get over it Nighthawks! Someone tell your Head Coach to read the rule book!

  60. Jus sayin…the way the process works is that the head coach decides who he WOULD like to be an 8 quarter player. The athletic director then requires the trainer and the parents to sign off on a form supplied by the NCHSSA. It is the athletic directors responsibility to make sure the players on the field are eligible.

  61. So the Athletic Director is responsible to know the rules better than the Head Coach? Yes the AD should have knowledge of the 8 qt rule but the HC should know his sport better than anyone within the building. Juss Sayin

  62. Why don’t they change it to the Northern News-Record. What about Dudley, what about Eastern, What about the other teams in the area. Every week they have 3 or more articles on Northern.

  63. Nap time now and as some have said, this might make a team stronger….Sometimes a loss can make you a better team in the long run…Especially when a team takes a loss like this….

    Northern at home on Friday night and I have a feeling they will be feeling like taking their frustrations out on somebody….

    Could really make for a hard hitting game….Austin Cotrane will have to be the Nighthawks’ leader and I have no doubt that he will be ready and I expect his teammates to be ready too…

    Getting to the point where we need to let the team move on and get ready to play on….Northern is now (4-1), but that one loss might be one that they don’t ever forget….

Comments are closed.