Four former Bishop Montgomery players helped to lead Mesa to victory during their first high school football game in Arizona over the weekend. It was a historic win that also creates dissension.
The state has since changed its rules to prevent this kind of thing from happening in the future.
A group of high school football players who were deemed ineligible in the state of California transferred east after the season was already underway. They played a big role for their new school during what could be considered an upset victory on Friday.
Bishop Montgomery canceled its season.
Bishop Montgomery High School is located in Torrance, California. The private Catholic school enrolls approximately 1,200 students in grades 9-12.
Its varsity football program played only one game this season because of a scandal.
Multiple players on the team were deemed ineligible by the California Interscholastic Foundation for a violation of Bylaw 202. Bishop Montgomery accepted more than 20 transfers during the offseason, which raised red flags about their eligibility.
It was later found that a local bag man paid for those transfers to play for the Knights in an effort to stack rosters for gambling. He admitted to paying for families’ moving expenses and providing them with cash.
“If the kid is nice and he’s a pro about it … like $50,000,” he told Fattal Factor. “(On top of) rent — $50,000, yea. It might sound like a lot of money, right? But when you win $300,000 on a bet … that’s my money for the year to pay the guys.”
The school ultimately reported multiple violations, fired its head coach at the beginning of September and announced the forfeiture of the entire season. The Knights finished the year at 0-1.
Arizona’s high school football transfer rules have changed.
All of the varsity players at Bishop Montgomery were stuck, regardless of whether they were part of the transfer scandal or not. Their season was canceled. They had nowhere to go.
Some of the varsity players initially decided to make the best of their situation and play for the junior varsity program at Bishop since they could not play varsity.
However, that plan very quickly changed as soon as they received a new varsity opportunity. They were declared ineligible by the state of California. Other states would not take them.
Mesa High School in Arizona welcomed them.
Four former Bishop Montgomery players transferred across state lines in the middle of September. That group of athletes included linebacker Kainalu Skipps, four-star Texas A&M tight end commit Caleb Tafua and three-star brothers Kane (Boogie) and Kingston Anetema. Kane plays quarterback. Kingston catches passes.
The Arizona Interscholastic Association ultimately tightened its out-of-state high school transfer rules to make in-season, out-of-state transfers ineligible to participate in team sports for one year.
However, a legal review (initiated by Mesa Public Schools) determined that the four Bishop Montgomery players were eligible to compete right away in 2025 because they made their move before the new “emergency bylaw” was put into place. That same ruling also applied to two other ineligible California players who also recently transferred to other Arizona schools.
Mesa becomes an instant championship contender.
The Jackrabbits have not been considered a high school football powerhouse in the state of Arizona since the early 1990s. They had just two winning seasons in the last decade.
Enter Skipps, Tafua and the Anetemas.
All four Bishop Montgomery transfers made their debuts for Mesa on Friday and played a huge role in an upset win. The 2-3 Jackrabbits defeated the 4-1 Lancers of Salpointe Catholic in Tucson.
Boogie Anetema completed 20 of 30 pass attempts for 185 yards (with three interceptions) and ran for 58 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries as the starting quarterback. Of those 20 completions, 80% went to his fellow transfers. Tafua had 10 catches for 94 yards. His brother had six catches for 63 yards.
Skipps, the lone defensive transfer, made 10 tackles— and two for a loss. He also had an interception and recovered a fumble.
Mesa does not win this game without the four Bishop transfers. Those four players would not be eligible to compete if they were to make that same move today because of the new rule.
The Jackrabbits moved to 3-3 with the win, which also happened to be the school’s 700th win all-time. Don’t be surprised if they are in the mix for the playoffs come late October.