Bishop Sycamore Football Team Slated for Comeback Months After HBO Documentary

One of the most notorious names in the American football ecosystem is back.

Bishop Sycamore High School will return to competition on Nov. 9 against Life Christian Academy in Colonial Heights, Va., according to Life Christian coach David Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that his team will play Bishop Sycamore at Rogers Stadium in Petersburg, Va., the home of Virginia State's Division II program.

“They’re looking to rebound and possibly enter into a league we play in. We needed to fill a game, and we were presented with the opportunity. We spoke with their coaching staff and felt comfortable that they were legitimately moving forward in the right direction,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re a Christian school, we believe in second chances, and we wanted to make this happen.” 

Bishop Sycamore came under scrutiny after a 2021 game against IMG Academy that was broadcast on ESPN. It was a subject of an HBO documentary, ‘BS High,’ released over the summer.

Jeff Lange/Akron Beacon Journal/USA TODAY Network

As depicted in BS High, a documentary released on Aug. 23 by HBO, Bishop Sycamore is accused of serving as a front for a nonexistent Ohio-based school masterminded by coach Roy Johnson. A Dec. 2021 report from Ohio’s Department of Education concluded that the school was “a scam.” 

Little is known of the team’s current state, apart from a cryptic 2022 tweet seemingly promising “a public resurrection” in response to the “public crucifixion” of 2021.

Per the Times-Dispatch, Life Christian has also attracted scrutiny in the past for its “academic and eligibility standards”—although the school has several bonafide Division I prospects, including a defensive end committed to James Madison.