High School

Opelousas football stripped of 2023 Louisiana high school state title, coach suspended: Report

LHSAA suspends coach Jimmy Zachery for 1 year, program to vacate 2023 wins after players' "registration issues" investigation, per report

Andy Buhler, SBLive Sports

In December, Opelousas knocked off Cecilia in the Louisiana high school football Division II non-select state championship. 

As of Wednesday, the school has reportedly been stripped of that championship trophy, forfeited all 11 wins in 2023 and its head coach has been suspended by the state's high governing body for a season.

By-U Sports reported Wednesday the Louisiana High School Athletic Association found "multiple violations" after players were suspected to have "registration issues," which purportedly refers to eligibility.

No more details about the investigation have been made available, nor has the LHSAA confirmed the news publicly. 

Last week, SBLive named Zachery, who has coached at Opelousas for four seasons, our Louisiana Coach of the Year after leading the Tigers to their first championship in program history.

This is a developing story.

SBLive Louisiana All-State football team: Catholic-Baton Rouge 2024 QB, state champion, Daniel Beale named MVP

Opelousas avenges loss to Cecilia to cap remarkable run to Division II non-select championship

-- Andy Buhler | andy@scorebooklive.com | @sblivela

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Andy Buhler, SBLive Sports
ANDY BUHLER, SBLIVE SPORTS

Andy Buhler is a Regional Editor of Texas and the national breaking news desk. He brings more than five years of experience covering high school sports across the state of Washington and beyond, where he covered the likes of Paolo Banchero and Tari Eason served on state tournament seeding committees. He works on the SBLive/Sports Illustrated Power 25 national boys basketball rankings. He has covered everything from the Final Four, MLS in Atlanta to local velodrome before diving into the world of preps. His bylines can be found in The News Tribune (Tacoma, Washington), The Associated Press, The Columbian (Vancouver, Washington), The Oregonian and more. He holds a degree from Gonzaga and is based out of Portland, Oregon.

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