4th and 10 for Football Team : Sports: A suit is filed to overturn the barring of the Huntington Beach High team from the playoffs. A player’s residency status triggered the disqualification.

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

The mother of a 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.

The CIF on Saturday 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.

The decision, which triggered weekend protests by students and parents, prompted a three-hour boycott of classes Monday. About 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 had already 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.”

The club’s attorney, James Baze, on Tuesday asked a Superior Court judge for a temporary order blocking the CIF from holding the playoffs this weekend.

“We are playing to win,” said booster club president Remo Bellamy.

“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,” he said.

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

“We have no intention to change our decision,” Thomas said. “If a judge says so, then that’s something else. It’s a tragedy, but we have to stick to the rules.”

The Oilers, who play in the Sunset League, lost eight of 10 games last year, so this year’s winning season was a celebrated turnaround for the school.

Coach George Pascoe called David’s ineligibility an innocent error.

He said he tried to find solace in knowing that the team’s victories this year really happened, contrary to what it now says in the record book.

“I mean, we won eight ballgames, and the kids should be really proud of that,” he said.