West Virginia high school football playoffs officially postponed due to litigation

WVSSAC Executive Director David Price released a statement via the MetroNews on Tuesday afternoon regarding the playoffs being postponed

A 97-yard field goal attempt Friday, Sept. 27, in a West Virginia high school football game resulted in six points. / John Heider/hometownlife.com via Imagn Content Services

The West Virginia high school football playoffs are officially on hold until further notice.

According to a tweet by MetroNews on Tuesday afternoon, WVSSAC Executive Director David Price released a statement that the state playoffs, all four classifications (26 games), are officially postponed until further notice. Down below is Price's statement:

"We are extremely disappointed to not be having the playoffs this weekend. We understand the frustration from all of the parties involved, and we want nothing more than to put the focus back on the student-athletes and their pursuit of a championship. However, we must abide by the decisions of the courts and their timeline." - David Price, WVSSAC Executive Director

Statement from the WVSSAC:
Due to ongoing litigation, the WVSSAC football playoffs for all four classes have been postponed. The playoffs will begin after the litigation has been resolved. #wvprepfb pic.twitter.com/tz2xTvn7rw

— MetroNews HS Sports (@MetroNewsPrep) November 12, 2024

Andy's Rant: How did the WVSSAC find itself in such a mess just days before the start of its football playoffs?

West Virginia high school football playoffs could be delayed due to injunction: Report

Last week, the Wood County Board of Education filed a petition for an injunction on Friday against the WVSAAC, challenging the football playoff rating formula used by the association.

The WVSAAC fully expected on Tuesday that more schools will be filing injunctions regarding being removed from the state's initial football playoff brackets because of disputes with the association's playoff rating formula. Point Pleasant on Monday evening went became the latest school looking to delay the WVSAAC playoffs.

Wood County's injunction was upheld and four schools were displaced from the postseason brackets, which have now already seen more legal action taken by school boards which has officially delayed the WVSSAC playoffs.

“Then we would have competing injunctions. We can’t pick and choose which one we are going to follow. That would be up to a higher court to decide that. We would take a look next at what steps to take for that decision to be made. Hopefully it can be done quickly. If not, then we would have to look at possibly postponing or moving back a week or two until that decision is made. Those are all speculation at this point,” Price said via a MetroNews report from last week.

Hampshire, Westside, Point Pleasant and Tolsia were all schools that were removed from the WVSSAC's playoffs via the new brackets released on Saturday afternoon.

---

Follow SBLive West Virginia throughout the 2024 high school football season for Live Updates, the most up to date Schedules & Scores and complete coverage from the preseason through the state championships!

Be sure to Bookmark High School on SI for all of the latest high school football news.

Download the SBLive App

To get live updates on your phone - as well as follow your favorite teams and top games - you can download the SBLive Sports app: Download iPhone App | Download Android App

-- Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @highschoolonsi