DUNCANVILLE, Texas — "Bishop Sycamore" has created a lot of buzz on social media since a nationally televised game over the weekend. Now that high school football team out of Ohio is accused of lying about its roster after its game against a Florida school made it onto ESPN.
There's a Texas tie, too: Duncanville High School still had a game listed on their football game schedule against Bishop Sycamore as of Tuesday morning. The district told WFAA Tuesday afternoon that the game has been canceled and that the team will be seeking a new opponent.
Duncanville ISD told WFAA that they attempted to contact Bishop Sycamore, but have been unable to reach a representative from the school.
“Student safety is our top priority and I can’t ask our student athletes to take the field next week without knowing more about who they will be facing,” said Duncanville ISD Athletic Director Dwight Weaver in a statement.
Weaver added that the district's core values speak to honesty, integrity, ethics and providing a safe environment for students.
"This situation calls into question many of those values, so we are canceling this game," Weaver said.
Who is Bishop Sycamore?
Bishop Sycamore got pummeled Sunday night by IMG Academy from Florida with an ending score of 58-0. On social media, people and even fans in Ohio didn't know who the team was. WFAA's affiliate ABC6 in Ohio tried to look for answers and didn't find an address that was actually tied to the school.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association said the school isn't a member. Schools must compete in at least two sports per season.
The state of Ohio said Bishop Sycamore is listed as a "non-chartered, non-tax-supported school."
The Bishop Sycamore coach on Twitter said that the team isn't affiliated with a local school but plans to offer online schooling, ABC6 reported.
Was vetting done? ESPN provided the following statement to ABC6:
"We regret that this happened and have discussed it with Paragon, which secured the matchup and handles the majority of our high school event scheduling. They have ensured us that they will take steps to prevent this kind of situation from happening moving forward."