Torrance's Bishop Montgomery High School forfeits 2025 football season for breaking CIF rules

TORRANCE, Calif. (KABC) -- Bishop Montgomery High School in Torrance announced that its varsity football program is suspended for the remainder of the 2025 season and all games are forfeited.

The decision comes after a booster, Brett Steigh, admitted to have paid parents of players Narbonne and St. Bernard before "helping" the Bishop Montgomery program in recent months, according to a report from the Daily Breeze.

After an investigation reportedly done in coordination with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Department of Catholic School, the school administration said it "self-reported" additional violations of the CIF-SS bylaws related to transfer students.

The CIF is the governing body for high school sports in most of Southern California.

Bishop Montgomery, which had more than 20 incoming football transfers for the season, had five players ruled ineligible by the CIF-SS last month for violating a bylaw and falsifying information.

It's unclear if players on the team are eligible to transfer to another school this season.

On Saturday, the high school announced that football coach Ed Hodgkiss was fired. He also served as the school's co-athletic director.

In a statement, the CIF Southern Section said it "is in the process of reviewing the self-imposed sanctions by Bishop Montgomery related to its football program."