By Andy Walter

Right now, the biggest thing that’s changed about Middletown High’s 2021 football season is that six of the wins on its online schedule have been changed to 1-0 forfeit losses.

The school made that change after discovering that it used an ineligible player in its first seven games of the year.

But, if there are any more penalties to come for the DIAA Class 3A state champion Cavaliers, it will be up to the DIAA board of directors to decide.

The DIAA board is slated to talk about the Middletown situation at its next board meeting, on April 14.

Dr. Bradley Layfield, the Sussex Central High principal and DIAA board president, said the discussion will be to get to the bottom of what happened.

Any further penalties for Middletown would be up in the air.

“We want to hear exactly what happened,” said Layfield. “Any time there’s a hearing like that, the less we know going in the better.

“I’m sure Middletown wants to know the exact same thing,” he added. “Ultimately, one of the purposes for a board hearing, is to find out what happened and then kind of give that cautionary tale to other member schools. ... to make sure things like that don’t happen again.”

The player in question came to Middletown from a school in another state.

Aside from documenting the situation, Layfield said any stronger punishments are usually reserved for cases when the DIAA board feels something was done intentionally by a school to gain an advantage.

He said the fact that Middletown self-reported the player gives him the impression that the school wasn’t trying to hide anything.

The situation is complicated by the fact that Class 3A had an open state tournament last fall. So, even if Middletown had discovered the ineligible player during the season, it still would have been in the tourney.

The player in question was eligible by early November — in time to play in the state tournament.

The Cavaliers beat Smyrna, 28-22, in the Class 3A state finals.

The six victories that Middletown has forfeited include regular-season wins over Henlopen Conference teams Smyrna and Sussex Central as well as Meade, Md., Appoquinimink, William Penn and St. Georges.

Officially, Middletown’s record for the entire season is now 4-7. The Cavs had two regular-season non-conference contests canceled for different reasons.

Follow Andy Walter on Twitter at @DSNSports.