(11-11-26) The Principia School (Mo.) forfeited its playoff game Friday night rather than play it — a self-imposed forfeit to address culture issues inside its own football program. And the coach at the center of it is a name Western Buckeye League fans know well: Kenton grad Maty Mauk.
One correction to the framing going around first: this was not a first-round game. Principia forfeited its Class 1 District 2 semifinal at Crystal City, scheduled for Friday, Nov. 6. The national write-ups calling it a first-round game have it wrong — the Post-Dispatch and the local Crystal City coverage both call it the semifinal, and Crystal City advanced straight to the district championship.
Why they forfeited
Principia athletics director Shawn Brown told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that a breach of school policy by some members of the football team was the reason behind the forfeit.
“We recently became aware of student behavior within our football team that violated our expectations and policies regarding bullying, hazing and harassment,” the school said in a statement.
Brown said-
“While we’re disappointed with how the season ended, we believe this was a necessary step in moving our program forward.This situation has also prompted us to take a closer look at aspects of our team culture that need attention. We realize there is work to be done and we are actively addressing those concerns.”
Faculty members at the private school in Town and Country, Missouri, contacted Crystal City administrators around 2 p.m. Friday to inform them of the decision. The forfeit ended Principia’s season at 2-7.
Crystal City coach Craig Collins said his team was looking forward to the home playoff contest. Instead, the Hornets (3-7) advance to the Class 1 District 2 championship at Louisiana (8-2) at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13.
A rough season on the field, too
Principia had hoped to make a run in Class 1 after playing a rugged regular-season schedule that included a host of larger schools. It didn’t come together — the Panthers finished 2-7, and the defense gave up 54 or more points five times during the season.
Football has been the hard part at a school known nationally for its boys basketball program. Principia has had one winning season since 2010, went 1-9 in 2024, and its last winning season was a 5-4 mark in 2018.
The Kenton connection
The coach is the local thread. Maty Mauk is a Kenton, Ohio, native — and Kenton plays in the Western Buckeye League, the same league as Celina.
Mauk was one of the most prolific quarterbacks in high school football history at Kenton, where he was coached by his father, Mike Mauk. He finished his prep career in 2011 as the national record-holder for completions (1,353), passing attempts (2,110), passing yards (18,932), touchdowns (219) and total yards (22,681), and was selected as an All-American by Sports Illustrated and Parade Magazine.
He went on to play at the University of Missouri, where as a redshirt freshman in 2013 he filled in for injured starter James Franklin and went 3-1, throwing five touchdowns in a win over Kentucky in his fourth start. He took over the starting job in 2014 and led the Tigers to their second straight SEC East Division title. He later transferred to Eastern Kentucky and signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL, but injuries derailed that run.
Principia named Mauk its head coach on April 17, 2025 — his first head-coaching job. He had previously coached as an assistant under his father at Glendale High School in Springfield, Missouri, in 2023, and under his older brother, Ben Mauk, at Monett High School in 2024. Ben is now the head coach at Monett. Stateline covered the Mauk brothers’ Missouri move in August 2025, when both became head coaches in the state.
Mauk did not return text messages from the Post-Dispatch about the forfeit.
What comes next
Crystal City plays for the district title at Louisiana on Friday night. Principia’s season is over, and Mauk’s program — in his first year as a head coach — now faces a rebuild that starts with the culture, not the depth chart.
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