Friday, September 29th, 2023, the OHSAA announced that Elyria Catholic will be on probation for the remainder of the 2023-2024 school year following a reported football recruiting violation.

EC Athletic Director Jim Piazza released a statement in response to an incident in August in which Elyria High submitted a recruiting complaint to the OHSAA.

Piazza’s statement is as follows:

On August 7, 2023 the OHSAA released a report to Elyria Catholic High School. The report indicates that Coach Farris, visiting Elyria High School, in his role as Executive Director of Save Our Children, was invited and attended a ceremony honoring an Elyria High female student, whom he mentors. Coach Farris, who had just left football practice on April 4, in haste to arrive on time for the awards ceremony inadvertently wore an Elyria Catholic sweatshirt.  As a result, Elyria High submitted a recruiting complaint to OHSAA. Since that time OHSAA has conducted an investigation and issued an August 7th report, stating, …”there is no tangible evidence to directly corroborate and/or refute these claims, aside from hearsay on each side.”