Hills faces off against Valley on Sunday at MetLife Stadium after a tumultuous November for the football team which has ultimately led to a Wayne Board of Education investigation into the entire matter.

After a 25-24 victory for WHHS over Wayne Valley in late October, the question as to the eligibility of Patriots football players arose.  Superintendent Dr. Mark Toback was made aware that a couple of players may not have had a bona fide address in Wayne, New Jersey. These players include Tyler, Hunter, and Jaaron Hayek, all seniors.

They joined the WHHS football team last season after transferring from St. Joseph’s High School.

Superintendent Dr. Mark Toback and WHHS Principal Maureen Weir, bound by NJSIIA rules to report such allegations, presented the facts they had to the agency, which later ruled that the team would have to forfeit all of their wins and disqualified the first-seed Patriots from state tournament play.   In response to this, WHHS students dressed in black the next day and some cut their second period class to protest outside the auditorium, where a meeting was  held with WHHS football parents, Toback and the Board of Education to discuss the situation.

In this meeting, the parents expressed their opinions and explained the unfairness of the decision as the entire football team has worked hard and diligently, losing only one game during the regular season.

Following the NJSIIA ruling, a lawyer for the students intervened and claimed that they were denied due process in the “charges” brought against them. The Wayne Township Board of Education filed a motion to intervene and joined in the appeal on behalf of the eligible players of the football team.

Ultimately, the state agency overturned their decision, thus paving the way for Sunday’s game at MetLife against the team’s crosstown rivals.

“Despite the controversial process that our student athletes and school community have gone through this past week, I am especially pleased that our boys will move to the playoffs without any doubt of their eligibility to do so,” said Toback. “

At a recent board of education meeting, several parents of football players petitioned the board to investigate the issue further.  The board will do so, according to the latest news reports.