![Notre Dame Prep football team](https://s4745.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Notre-Dame-Preparatory-football-team.jpg)
By Scott Bordow | Arizona Republic
(Editor’s note: Opinion pieces are published for discussions purposes only.)
Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep might have just made the playoffs.
The school – and/or the Roman Catholic Diocese – finally did what the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s executive board has been asking it to do all along: Take responsibility for the summer “football class” and the subsequent recruiting violation, both of which landed Notre Dame on probation.
Up until Thursday, Notre Dame’s response has been to A) Deny there was a violation, B) blame other schools and C) forfeit spring football in 2017 and suspend head coach Mark Nolan for Friday’s regular-season finale against a 2-7 Casa Grande Vista Grande team.
The chances of winning an appeal with those self-imposed penalties were, well, less than zero.