Bellarmine is back in the CCS football playoffs after a judge blocks its forfeits

Bellarmine College Preparatory is in the Central Coast Section football playoffs after all.  The section's official bracket, posted after Sunday's seeding meeting, lists the San Jose school as the No. 7 seed in the Open/Division 1 field, its top level.

The Bells play at No. 2 St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, according to the bracket.  The Central Coast Section, or CCS, runs high school sports for schools from San Francisco to Monterey County.

Last week CCS ordered the private Jesuit school to forfeit all six of its wins for using an ineligible transfer player, which would have dropped it from 6-3 to 0-9 and out of the playoffs.  On Nov. 6, a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge granted Bellarmine a temporary restraining order, a short-term court order, that blocks the forfeits for now, according to the San Francisco Chronicle and SFGATE.  The order keeps the team's 6-3 record, those outlets reported.

A temporary restraining order is not a final ruling, and the case could return to court.  Neither CCS nor Bellarmine had posted a statement on its website as of Monday morning.

Source:  CIF Central Coast Section fall playoff brackets; CCS Open/Division 1 football bracket-0pen-division-i.htm); reporting by the San Francisco Chronicle and SFGATE.