CIF Ruling Sparks Boycott : Protest: Huntington Beach High students and teachers skipped classes and went on the march in opposing their football team’s disqualification from playoffs.

The decision to bar a winning Huntington Beach High School Oilers football team from championship playoffs this weekend sparked a boycott of classes Monday and a march of 1,500 students, teachers and parents who stopped traffic on city streets.

Meanwhile on Monday, the mother of the team member whose residency status resulted in the team being declared ineligible arrived from Baltimore, and asserted that her son is a bona fide resident of Huntington Beach.

Rosemary Roman, 44, said she will join her son, David Roman, 17, and the Huntington Beach High Football Boosters in a court challenge today in Santa Ana over the ruling by the California Interscholastic Federation.

Saturday, the CIF declared her son ineligible because the starting right tackle was not living in Huntington Beach with a parent or legal guardian in accordance with federation rules. The CIF then barred the Oilers from the playoffs and had the team’s 8-2 season record nullified.

That decision, which sparked weekend protests by students and parents, prompted a three-hour boycott of classes Monday. Some 1,500 students, parents and teachers marched on Adams Avenue toward City Hall, stopping traffic before police turned them back.

David Roman, who transferred from Maryland, has lived in Huntington Beach since enrolling in school Aug. 16. He has lived with his 24-year-old brother, Tony, while his mother remained in Maryland to sell their old home. Principal Gary Ernst said school administrators failed to check his eligibility, assuming that his mother already had moved to the city. The omission was discovered when David applied last week to the CIF for another year of eligibility.

Said Tony Roman of the disqualification: “It’s unfair for these kids to have to pay for a mistake some adults have made. It is cruel to do this so close to the playoffs when their hopes are high. It’s just not fair.”

The club’s attorney, James Baze, was expected to ask a Superior Court judge today for a temporary order blocking the CIF from holding the playoffs this weekend. Baze said a last-minute computer breakdown prevented him from filing the relevant documents Monday.

“We are playing to win,” said booster club president Remo Bellamy, adding that the club has received more than $3,000 for legal fees. “If it’s too late to get into the playoffs, we want the courts to restore our record. The kids must have their dignity back.”

CIF Commissioner Stanley Thomas insisted that the federation would not reverse its decision.

“All bets are off,” said Thomas, who said he waited in vain for almost two hours in court Monday to defend the federation against the threatened court action. “We have no intention to change our decision. If a judge says so, then that’s something else. It’s a tragedy, but we have to stick to the rules.”