HARBOR CITY – The Narbonne High School football team has been banned from CIF City Section postseason play for three years and will have to forfeit the 2024 City Section Open Division championship after an investigation revealed Thursday the program violated City Section and Los Angeles Unified School District bylaws.
The entire Narbonne High athletic department was placed on probation Wednesday for the bylaw violations. The probation period is for the remainder of this school year and the next three school years until 2028.
The CIF City Section found in an investigation Narbonne High violated two bylaws regarding providing accurate information about student athletes and making contact with potential student athletes before they were enrolled in the school.
Narbonne will be allowed to appeal the penalties and the postseason ban after the 2025-26 school year.
Narbonne played 14 football games with ineligible players in 2024 and advanced to the City Section Open Division championship game, defeating San Pedro, 75-31.
Narbonne lost to Pacific Oxnard, 37-20, in the CIF Southern California Division 2AA Regional final.
The Narbonne High football team won seven games, including four forfeits against Marine League teams.
Narbonne’s 2024 regular season consisted of six nonleague games and four league games. Banning, Gardena, Carson and San Pedro refused to play Narbonne, citing possible rule violations. The coaches for Banning, Gardena, Carson and San Pedro signed and sent letters to City Section officials about their concerns that Narbonne was violating rules and using ineligible players.
Narbonne played four City Section playoff games and in the CIF Southern California Regional final.
Coach Malcolm Manuel resigned after the high school season ended and is the head coach at Cabrillo High in Long Beach. Narbonne quarterback Jaden O’Neal is no longer on the team and reportedly moved to Oklahoma. Other players on the team who were deemed ineligible have transferred to other schools in Southern California. The investigation showed seven football players were ineligible to play for Narbonne.
Doug Bledsoe was hired as the new football coach at Narbonne in February. He has coached at Dorsey, University, North Hollywood and Pasadena high schools.
