The Valley Central Vikings’ season just got new lease on life.

At least for a week.

The Middletown Middies were forced to forfeit their 48-15 win over the Vikings in Friday’s Section 9 Class AA semifinal on Monday when it was reported that they used an ineligible special team’s player during the game.

That means, the Vikings were awarded the victory and will face the Newburgh Free Academy Goldbacks at 6 p.m. Saturday for the Section 9 Class AA championship at Monroe-Woodbury High School in Central Valley.

Valley Central coach Kyle Schneider confirmed on Monday that the Vikings would play the Goldbacks. A message left for Section 9 football chairman Jason Semo was not returned.

Middletown Superintendent Amy Creeden released the forfeiture on Monday in a letter to the community.

According to the letter, on Sunday, “a question was raised regarding whether one of our varsity football players met postseason eligibility requirements. Because state eligibility rules are complex, our administration worked through the evening with Section 9 officials to review the regulations.”

Creeden said the player had not met regular-season contest requirement requirements to play in a playoff game and an “adult error in understanding the rules.”

The Enlarged City school District of Middletown requested a waiver from Section 9, which was denied. The district appealed to New York State Public High School Athletic Association Executive Director Robert Zayas at 11:30 a.m. Monday. That appeal was denied as well. As a result, the Middies are barred from advancing to the Section 9 championship game.

“We want to be very clear: this was an error made by adults, not our scholars,” Creeden wrote. “Not one student-athlete did anything wrong. Every football and cheer athlete on this team earned this season through hard work, heart and pride, and nothing about this decision changes that.”

The district is pursuing legal recourse on the team’s behalf, but acknowledged that the chances “are limited, but our young people deserve every effort we can make for them and we will make it.”

The Middies were in the midst of an historic 10-0 season. It is the second time in seven years that a promising Middletown season was cut short due to such an error. In 2019, the Middies were forced to forfeit four regular -season wins, including three Class AA games, after they were ruled to have used an ineligible player. They did not qualify for the playoffs.
The Vikings were defeated by the Goldbacks, 27-0, on Oct. 30.