NORTH BERGEN -- The New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association's executive committee decided Wednesday morning to strip North Bergen High School of the North Jersey Section 1, Group IV football state championship that the Bruins won last December in MetLife Stadium on the grounds that the program allegedly illegally recruited two players who played for the championship team.

The executive committee's ruling overturns an original decision made by the NJSIAA's controversies committee, which stated that North Bergen would be allowed to keep the state title, but would be placed on a two-year probationary period, where all transfer applications into the school would be closely examined.

The executive committee's ruling comes on the heels of an appeal filed by Montclair High School, which lost the title game to the Bruins, 14-13, in thrilling fashion on the final play of the game.

The appeal was filed two weeks ago by Montclair. The NJSIAA's executive committee went over the details of the appeal at their final official meeting before the summer break Wednesday and ruled that North Bergen has to forfeit the state championship. It will not elevate Montclair to state champions, and rather, will leave the 2011 sectional championship vacant.

For previous articles on this ongoing controversy, see the links below. -- Jim Hague