Mother was wrong. Two wrongs do make a right.
JSerra took an unwise gamble when it suited up for its varsity football game a player who, from what the school knew, might have been ejected from the previous day’s junior varsity game. According to rules of the CIF-Southern Section, the governing body of high school sports in Orange County and much of Southern California, a student-athlete expelled from a contest cannot be participate in, suit up for or even be in attendance at the school’s following contest.
The other wrong was that the officiating crew that worked the JV game failed to file an expulsion report in a timely manner.
The result is that the CIF-Southern Section ruled Tuesday that JSerra does not have to forfeit its varsity football win over Santa Margarita, a 35-28 victory for the Lions on Friday in a Trinity League game at Saddleback College.
What’s “right” is that the JSerra players who did what was required to earn the victory will not be penalized. Many times forfeitures are the result of clerical or other mistakes by an adult coach or adult administrator. The kids suffer because an adult messed up.
The player in question was ousted from the JSerra-Santa Margarita junior varsity football game on Thursday. JSerra was uncertain if that was a de facto expulsion, which would require the player to not be in attendance at the following contest, let alone suit up or play in the following contest.
The CIF-SS constitution is clear on this: “A player who was ejected from the previous contest, who knowingly, or unknowingly, participates in or is in attendance at the next contest, will result in the forfeiture of every contest until the suspension is completely served.”
The CIF-SS office confirmed that Santa Margarita brought to its attention that an ejected player suited up for Friday’s varsity game.
CIF-SS commissioner Rob Wigod concluded that JSerra did all it could to find out if the player had in fact been expelled from the JV game, the JV game official erred in not posting the expulsion and that the CIF-SS office perhaps could have done a more thorough job in answering JSerra’s questions.
As Wigod said in a statement, “I believe that our member schools have to be able to trust the fact that when they seek help from our office, they will get that help. I never want to be in a situation where our member schools look to us for guidance and still suffer consequences after making an honest effort to not violate our rules and avoid those consequences.”
JSerra recklessly rolled the dice on this one.
A football player who participates in a previous day’s JV game usually will not play in the varsity game. Yes, a coach wants to go into a big game like a Trinity League opener with a high-quality depth chart. But it’s not worth the risk to forfeit a win because the coach allowed a backup player to suit up when the rules prohibit that player from doing so.
Although this could not been part of the CIF-SS decision Tuesday, JSerra maybe just got the break it was owed.
Last year, JSerra beat Servite and Santa Margarita in the final two weeks of the season to finish in a three-way tie, with Servite and Orange Lutheran, for third place in the Trinity League. Only the top three finishers in a six-team league like the Trinity League automatically qualify for the playoffs, so a coin flip had to break the three-way tie.
Coin flip results made Servite the league’s No. 3 team, Orange Lutheran its No. 4 team and JSerra its No. 5. Two at-large berths were available in the Pac-5 Division playoff bracket. Orange Lutheran got one, and Crespi of Encino got the one that JSerra deserved.
Crespi was annihilated by Mission Viejo in the Pac-5 first round, 45-0.
What about three wrongs make a right, Mom?
