'Shocking and disappointing': COVID-19 forfeits mean Ryan starts district play 0-2

An emergency meeting was then called Friday to formally list the two games as forfeits.

“Everyone agreed that they would not be a forfeit and that [the committee] needed to amend the minutes for everybody so that no one would be punished for the coronavirus,” Florence said. “Denton ISD thought it was in the best interest of our district to take care of our kids and coaches, and that their safety came first. We were stunned that the Frisco principals voted en bloc for the forfeits. The Colony, Denton and Ryan’s interpretation of the rules are that it didn’t call for a forfeit.

“I was disappointed in their statement that I just read that they didn’t mention it was the six Frisco schools in that vote. That’s misleading, and I don’t like that.”

Frisco ISD released its statement, which was initially reported by The Dallas Morning News, saying that it was merely upholding the rules set forth at the beginning of the season. One member from each of the district’s nine schools was present, Frisco ISD said.

“In the wordings of the District rules, a game that can’t be played is ruled a ‘forfeit.’ However, the UIL has encouraged schools to not use the word forfeit for these games and instead use ‘no contest.’ That can allow the team to not call the game a loss, and in the case of Denton Ryan, its regular-season winning game streak can continue,” the statement said in the The News’ article.

For clarity, a no-contest means that a game would not count as a win or a loss. It would be as if the game were never scheduled. By ruling Ryan’s games against Frisco Reedy and Denton as forfeits, the Raiders are dealt an 0-2 start to district play. The losses also mean that Ryan gets a loss by the 17-point differential voted on in the bylaws.

Regardless of what the bylaws state and what everyone’s interpretation of the bylaws are, Florence’s contention is that everyone agreed Thursday to amend the bylaws. That essentially means Denton ISD officials left one meeting thinking one thing, all to return the next day with a completely different ruling thrown in their face.

“In 32 years, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Florence said. “Our interpretation is that the district minutes didn’t call for a forfeit. Everyone agreed to that. Then, Frisco calls an emergency meeting, and it was the Frisco schools who voted for the forfeit.”

Ryan coach Dave Henigan agreed, saying the turn of events was shocking.

“It’s as shocking and disappointing a turn of events in a two day meeting as I have ever seen in 25 years,” Henigan said. “I don’t need to comment any further on that, because I will probably say something stupid.”

Ryan had a 52-game regular-season win streak coming into the cancellations. The Raiders started the year with wins over Class 6A teams Arlington Martin and Guyer.