- ABC News
- August 31, 2021
Two days after an Ohio-based high school football team met national powerhouse IMG Academy in a prep football mismatch on Sunday on ESPN, questions continue to be raised about how the game was scheduled and whether the school even exists. ESPN and Paragon, the company that works to schedule and deliver high school matchups to ESPN, both said they were unaware that Bishop Sycamore had apparently played a game on Friday night, and didn't have the number of highly recruited prospects it claimed to have when the game was scheduled. IMG won the game 58-0, and the ESPN broadcasters quickly noted the mismatch and commented on it throughout the game, citing player safety. They also said they became suspicious when information about the team and its players, including rosters, were hard to come by. In a statement, ESPN said: "We regret that this happened and have discussed it with Paragon, which secured the matchup and handles the majority of our high school event scheduling. They have...