Bellarmine wins injunction over CCS forfeits, set to play in playoffs

The football field at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, Calif. (Google Street View) One day before Bellarmine College Preparatory was set to kick off its Central Coast Section playoff run, a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge handed the Bells a key win over the section, according to multiple reports.Bellarmine is receiving a temporary injunction against the original CCS ruling, which declared a Bellarmine player who transferred into the school this summer ineligible for the next two years of athletic competitions and required the Bells to forfeit their six wins from the 2026 football season. The injunction allows the school to play in the CCS football playoffs, where the Bells are scheduled to face St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco on Friday night. (Bay Area News Group was first to report on Thursday's ruling.)The saga began 10 days ago on Nov. 2, when the section initially handed Bellarmine its ruling that would've meant the school's record dropped from 6-3 to 0-9. According to court documents, attorneys for the CCS said the player and his family sent the section documentation over the summer showing they had moved from Union City to Campbell. The documents included bank statements, various bills and even a voter registration record. All of this was required in order to get the section to rule the family had made a valid change of residence and grant the player, a sophomore, immediate eligibility for the upcoming football season.In October, the CCS said it had reviewed the documentation submitted for previously approved transfers and discovered a discrepancy in a phone bill that indicated it had been "materially altered" to show the phone being used at the Campbell residence. That led to a deeper investigation, in which the CCS said it saw evidence of the family still living out of the Union City address on Oct. 21-22 and not using the Campbell address at all on Oct. 28-29. Once handed the ruling on Nov. 2, Bellarmine principal Rod Jemison initially told parents and the school community that the school did not dispute that the violation had occurred, but disagreed with "the severity of the associated consequences." However, in a Nov. 5 letter to the Bellarmine community, Jemison said school officials "disagree and object" to the CCS ruling. The letter said the family "vehemently denies" that they falsified documents, and the school said the investigation was "inadequate, incomplete, and void of any inquiry of Bellarmine, the affected student or his family."Through its lawyers, Bellarmine filed for a temporary restraining order (TRO), which was granted by Judge Panteha E. Saban on Nov. 6. That made the ineligible player eligible again and also put a stay on the forfeits, putting the Bells back into playoff position. But Saban specified the TRO was not a decision on the merits of the case and set the TRO to expire at the end of Thursday's hearing.In follow-up filings this week, the CCS submitted new evidence that included a second bill, this one for internet service, that the section said was altered. The organization also requested to have three witnesses take the stand for questioning: Jemison and two members of the player's family. Bellarmine responded the following day, objecting to the witness request and providing three new statements in support of its case, one from the manager of the branch of the phone company the family uses, one from the landlord from the family's Campbell residence and one from a computer forensics expert, who questioned the section's assertion that the bills had been altered at all.That all set up Thursday's hearing, where a judge ruled in favor of Bellarmine. It isn't clear how long the injunction will be in effect for, and Bay Area News Group reported there will be another hearing in the future.After the TRO, the Bells closed out their final regular season game on one day's notice and were crushed by West Catholic Athletic League rivals Archbishop Riordan High School, 56-14. But the 6-4 overall record and 3-4 in WCAL play were still good enough to earn a playoff spot and get a rematch with St. Ignatius, who beat Bellarmine 26-7 back on Oct. 16. And for the second week in a row, the Bells found out the day before the game that they're cleared to take the field.This breaking news story will be updated.Most ReadCulture |SF youth culture died at a peptide party in Fisherman's WharfLocal | E lusive Bay Area species thrives in the foggiest place in USNews | Calif. town votes against tax plan to save its own beachesTravel | As original LA-to-SF highway falls apart, locals are trying to helpRead our stories ad-free on the new SFGATE app.This article originally published at Bellarmine wins injunction over CCS forfeits, set to play in playoffs.