Several football players at North College Hill High School who transferred in from other schools have been allowed to resume playing this season after winning temporary injunctions in court against the Ohio High School Athletic Association.
They have been cleared to play under a temporary restraining order after being ruled ineligible for the second half of the season under OHSAA transfer bylaws. Under those rules, transfers in varsity football can only play the first five games of the season with their new school unless they meet one of several exceptions to the bylaw that would allow them to participate in the entire season.
The group includes players who transferred to North College Hill from Robert A. Taft Information Technology High School after head coach Tyler Williams left Taft to become head coach at NCH following the end of the 2025 season.
NCH senior Josiah Pouncy is one of the players who has been temporarily permitted to play. He and senior Eddie Holloway are plaintiffs in separate lawsuits filed against the OHSAA and handled by the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas. Pouncy was granted an injunction and was allowed to continue playing Oct. 2 in Week 7 of NCH’s season. A hearing to continue that order has not been scheduled.
Holloway and seven other students – including five minors – are involved in the second lawsuit, with several granted injunctions on Oct. 8 and permitted to play again in the team’s game against Clark Montessori on Oct. 9. It’s unclear which of those players participated in that game.
A hearing to extend the order is scheduled for Oct. 22. The eight players are in various stages of OHSAA review.
Pouncy and Holloway were two of seven students who transferred from Taft to North College Hill soon after Williams took the job there. According to court documents, all seven enrolled at NCH in the first two months of 2026. One of those students, a minor, is not involved in the lawsuits.
Pouncy’s lawsuit claims that OHSAA denied his request for an exemption to play the full season because it ruled that he had decided to transfer to NCH to stay with Williams.
NCH announced the move on Jan. 3, 2026, and the school board approved the hire on Feb. 9. As part of their ruling on the timing of the hire, the OHSAA “invoked the rebuttable presumption of recruiting in Bylaw 4-9-4 No. 10 for seven students who transferred from Taft to North College Hill, including Josiah.”
Bylaw 4-9-4 covers students who transfer from one school to another following the coach moving. Exception No. 10 to the bylaw says those students are automatically ineligible for a calendar year unless the administrators of the receiving school petition the OHSAA and provide proof that the transfer was made for other reasons.
Pouncy argued that he and his father, Alphonso, moved to North College Hill and had a bona fide change of address, which is one of the exceptions to the transfer bylaw. According to the suit, they moved on Jan. 2, 2026, and he started attending NCH on Jan. 14.
They also argued that Pouncy felt unsafe at Taft, which would also qualify as an exception to the bylaw. The family told the OHSAA in writing that they “became alarmed by gun-related incidents involving the Taft football locker room. We moved out of the Cincinnati Public School District due to the ongoing gun-related issues inside of the Taft football locker room. To protect my son's life and future, it was best for us to move and get away from this situation.”
They cited a story on WLWT-TV where nearly 100 guns were stolen in gun-shop break-ins. Two suspects were Taft football players and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives found one of the guns in the locker of a Taft football player. The Enquirer has reported about several incidents of gun violence in and around the West End neighborhood where Taft is located.
In addition, Pouncy took part in a shadow day with the Elder High School football program on Dec. 12 and considered transferring to Elder. The family shared documented evidence of that in the suit. The family said in the lawsuit that proves he wasn’t planning on going to NCH with Williams, but ultimately decided not to go to Elder because they couldn’t afford the tuition.
The OHSAA ruled against Pouncy partly because it alleged the move to the NCH area was motivated by his desire to play for Williams.
On Sept. 30, 2026, OHSAA noted that, although it denied the Exception 1 request, it “did not find that the residence change was not bona fide, that the family retained responsibility for the former residence, or that Josiah was recruited. It denied the request solely on causation, concluding that 'the desire to transfer Josiah to a different school preceded and ultimately led to the father's move into the North College Hill SD, rather than the change of residence causing the students' transfer to North College Hill.'"
Besides Pouncy and Holloway, the other five transfers from Taft are minors, and four of them are part of Holloway's lawsuit. One minor played in NCH's game on Oct. 2. The OHSAA recently cleared another one to participate in the rest of the season, including the playoffs. Another minor has been ineligible all season because the OHSAA ruled that there's not enough information to "sufficiently rebut the presumption of recruiting." According to the Pouncy lawsuit, the player allegedly told an administrator and some teachers that he intended to transfer to NCH to play for his "old coach."
Neither Williams nor the OHSAA has responded to a request for comment.
The only other students in the Holloway suit whose names weren't redacted are seniors Mason Goldsmith and Chris Bradley. Bradley transferred from Lakota West High School and has split time at quarterback this season. Goldsmith transferred from Fairfield and is a contributor on defense with 4.5 sacks. Another student, a minor, listed in the lawsuit came from Northwest High School.
Joshua Evans, the attorney for the NCH students in both lawsuits, defended his clients’ rights in an email to The Enquirer.
“Our position, as set out in the filings, is straightforward,” Evans wrote. “These families moved, applied for the exception OHSAA's own rules provide, and did what OHSAA asked of them. Several of those applications are still undecided, one of them since April. In the meantime, the transfer penalty has been running and costing students games they can never get back, and a family can't appeal a decision OHSAA hasn't made. Where OHSAA has ruled, we believe some of those rulings were not supported by the evidence. We aren't asking the court to decide who is eligible. We're asking that the calendar not decide these students' seasons before OHSAA does. OHSAA's counsel has been professional throughout, and we'll continue to work through the process with them.”
After its first game of the season was canceled, NCH is 7-0 this season, entering a game against Cincinnati Country Day on Oct. 16. The Trojans have allowed only three points all season and are considered a contender in the Division IV, Region 16 playoffs.
Pouncy is a four-star recruit committed to the University of Louisville. Holloway, a versatile receiver, defensive back and kick returner, has committed to Kent State.
NCH Athletic Director Rayshawn Walton said the school is a neutral party in these lawsuits, adding that the administration will abide by the court’s and OHSAA's decisions. "Josiah alleges no wrongdoing by NCH and seeks no damages, attorney fees or costs against it," according to Pouncy's lawsuit.
“Several of the students that filed for injunctions have been approved since the filing. There are still some students who have lingering cases,” Walton wrote in an email to The Enquirer. “My Superintendent and I are in constant communication with OHSAA to make sure we are in compliance. Any guidance that OHSAA gives us, we will follow. Our legal team will closely monitor each case and the Judge’s orders.”
Three other players who left Taft after Williams’ exit - Monsanna Torbert, Key’Sean Torbert and Lorenzo McMullen Jr. - all transferred to Princeton High School and have been eligible to play the entire season without incident.
The dual lawsuits are among several ongoing legal battles between the OHSAA and football players around the state this fall. Elder senior receiver Andrew Lyman won a settlement last week that allowed him to play more games than originally allowed, and Middletown senior quarterback Kolby Morgerson is seeking an injunction to be permitted to play in a hearing Oct. 16.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: NCH football players cleared to play amid eligibility disputes