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Snow College News- WSFL standings “All Shook Up” as Arizona Western forfeits football games

WSFL standings “All Shook Up” as Arizona Western forfeits football games

EPHRAIM -- In a surprise announcement today, Arizona Western College (AWC) has forfeited five of its football wins this season due to transfer waivers that were not submitted in a timely manner for two football players. "The blame is ours," Athletic Director Jerry Smith was quoted as saying in the Yuma Sun newspaper. “We are heartsick that our mistake alters the record of our hardworking students.”

As a result, AWC has forfeited five games which it had won on the field, dropping the Matadors’ overall record from 7-2 to 2-7. One of the five forfeited games was against non-league foe Everett (Wash.). The forfeits drop the Matadors from second place in the Western States Football League (WSFL) to seventh place. AWC league wins over Pima, Eastern Arizona, Phoenix, and Mesa are affected, in addition to the non-league win over Everett, and will be recorded for AWC as losses by a score of 1-0.

The ruling, handed down by the National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association (NJCAA), affects the Matadors’ first six games of the season. AZW losses to Scottsdale and Snow are not affected, and its win over Glendale on Oct. 5 will also stand, meaning that AZW holds the tiebreaker edge over Glendale since they both finished with identical league records of 2-6.

With the WSFL’s inaugural post season playoff scheduled to start this Saturday, the dropping of AWC from second to seventh place has altered nearly every playoff matchup from what was expected after last Saturday’s regular season finales. The WSFL playoff schedule now looks as follows:

Sat., Oct. 26 - #8 Glendale (2-6) hosts #9 Phoenix (1-7)

Sat., Nov. 2 - Championship Bracket - #1 Scottsdale (7-1) hosts #4 Eastern Arizona (5-3)
#2 Mesa (7-1) hosts #3 New Mexico Military (5-3)

Consolation Bracket - #5 Pima (4-4) hosts Glendale/Phoenix winner
#6 Snow (3-5) hosts #7 Arizona Western (2-6)

Sat., Nov. 9 - Championship Bracket - Scottsdale/Eastern winner vs. Mesa/NMMI winner

Consolation Bracket - Pima/Glendale/Phoenix winner vs. Snow/AWC winner

The Matadors will still be able to play in the El Toro Bowl which will be played on their home field on Dec. 7, if the bowl committee decides to invite them. Mark Krug of the NJCAA stated that there is no rule which requires a team to have six wins or be over .500 to be eligible for a junior college bowl.