South Fort Myers Wins Its Appeal: FHSAA Rescinds the Three Forfeits and the Wolfpack Are 8-2 Again
The Wolfpack self-reported an ineligible player in September and lost three wins for it. On Sunday the FHSAA gave the wins back — restoring an 8-2 record and a safe place in the Class 4A-Region 3 playoffs five days before the brackets come out.
South Fort Myers got its season back on Sunday. The Wolfpack football team won its appeal to the Florida High School Athletic Association, and the FHSAA rescinded the penalty of three forfeits it had imposed over an ineligible player, The News-Press reported — restoring the three wins and returning South Fort Myers' final regular-season record to 8-2.
The case began with the school itself. South self-reported that it had used an ineligible player in its first three games, all wins, after discovering the situation before its September 18 game at Community School of Naples; the player has not played since. His eligibility concern dated back to the fall of 2025, when he was enrolled at another Florida school. While the appeal was pending, the forfeits had dropped the Wolfpack's listed record from 7-2 to 4-5 even as the FHSAA treated the games as no contests for playoff purposes.
With the wins restored, South Fort Myers — which closed the regular season Friday with a 55-0 win over Lely — should be safely in the Class 4A-Region 3 playoffs. The FHSAA releases its state football brackets on Friday, November 6, and the Wolfpack will learn their first-round opponent and seed then. A program that reported its own mistake in September will play November football with the record it earned on the field.
