ROME TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- The Ohio High School Athletic òòò½ÊÓƵsociation on Wednesday reduced Fairland High School's penalty for football recruiting to two years probation.
Last week, the OHSAA banned Fairland from post-season play in all sports and fined it $5,000 pending a corrective action plan by the school. FHS superintendent Roni Hayes submitted the plan that included the firing of football coach Rashad Jackson, whom the OHSAA accused of recruiting three players from Huntington High School, and educational courses for coaches on OHSAA rules.
"We're eligible for the postseason again, our kids can play," Fairland athletic director Jeff Gorby said. "They didn't tell us anything about the fine being reduced, but will let us know."
The two-year probation will remain in place as long as Fairland commits no additional violations. The school, which opened in 1949, had never been sanctioned by the OHSAA before.
Jackson said he was pleased the student-athletes will get to play, but added he felt as though he had been unfairly fired.
"I never recruited anyone," Jackson said. "I was fired on hearsay."
Fairland went 2-8 this season, Jackson's first as head coach. None of the three players Jackson was said to have recruited practiced or played at Fairland. One enrolled, but left to attend a school in another state.
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