San Juan Hills High School in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., learned Sunday that its football team will participate in the 2025 playoffs despite being forced to forfeit seven games this season.
As reported by brobible, San Juan Hills competes in the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section as members of the Bravo League. The Stallions went 21-4 over the past two years. They won eight games on the field in 2025. Seven have since been overturned.
An investigation into California transfers determined that an ineligible player participated in the team's first nine games of the year.
San Juan Hills’ eligibility issue was self-reported, and the school cooperated after learning of the infraction.
Per the reporting of brobible's Jacob Elsey, San Juan Hills won seven of those games, including four in league play. The Stallions had been in a first-place tie atop the Bravo League standings. "Now, they’ve fallen to 1-4 in the league, and into fourth place," Elsey wrote. "That position holds major playoff implications."
The top three finishers in the Bravo League receive an automatic bid. With their record adjusted from 8-2 to 1-9, the Stallions lost their automatic playoff bid. It was, however, still eligible for an at-large bid. The CIF Southern Section uses a high school football ratings system to select postseason participants. That system does not penalize teams for forfeits, Elsey reported.
"There were four likely contenders competing for three at-large spots," he wrote. "Los Alamitos (8-2) and Vista Murrieta (7-3) got the first two bids. JSerra, a 3-7 team that had just fired its head coach, was the other potential playoff team. JSerra was left out. San Juan Hills got the final spot due to their superior rating despite the 1-9 record.
