Prep Team Loses on Appeal; Judge Scolds Boosters : Oilers Lose in Appeal by CIF; Savanna Waits

Twenty-four hours before the big game, the Huntington Beach High School football team was thrown out of postseason championship play Thursday by appellate judges who sternly lectured the Oilers’ booster club attorneys on the importance of playing by the rules.

Meanwhile, Anaheim’s Savanna High School, also barred Tuesday from the playoffs because of an allegedly ineligible player, was in a lower court Thursday to seek reinstatement and expects a decision today.

In light of the Huntington Beach ruling, however, Savanna’s chances don’t look good. “All we can do (is) sit and wait and pray and keep the fingers crossed,” said Rebel coach Fred DiPalma.

In the Huntington Beach case, a three-judge panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal in effect unanimously sided with Sunset League officials who had disqualified the Oilers from the playoffs last Saturday for using an ineligible player in its games.

Technically, the appellate justices stayed an Orange County Superior Court judge’s ruling on Tuesday that had returned the team to the playoffs.

“We were given hope and then had it taken away,” Huntington Beach football coach George Pascoe said. “Something has to be done about . . . how this sort of thing is handled.”

Booster club attorney Edward J. Paul argued in vain that the rule, which requires an athlete’s parent or guardian to live in the school district, had been unintentionally violated in the case of starting tackle David Roman and should have been caught by school administrators.

Consequently, Paul said, students, the football team and the Roman family are suffering.

“Maybe what’s suffering is respect for rules,” interjected Associate Justice Edward J. Wallin during a hearing held in the Santa Ana court. “What you’re really attacking is the whole CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) book of rules, aren’t you?”

“The rules are extremely clear as to what the consequences will be if an ineligible player is fielded,” Wallin asserted.

The justices said they were reluctant to get involved in sports disputes, which Wallin reasoned could ultimately mean “we’ll have games every Monday and Friday and litigation Wednesdays through Thursdays.” He added:

“Maybe in January or February, when we finally get though all the appeals, we can finally have CIF trophies presented right here.”

“Pretty soon,” Wallin continued, “a coach will want to start the season with good assistants, a good trainer and a good lawyer. A good lawyer who can work fast will be more important than a fast tailback.”

Another booster club attorney, James Baze, said he was “more disappointed for the children of the Huntington Beach High School football team than for anyone else.”

But CIF-Southern Section attorney Andrew Patterson said the ruling “maintains stability in interscholastic athletics.”

At least, said Coach Pascoe, the matter was finally resolved.

“This week, the kids have been through everything,” Pascoe said. “First we’re the No. 1 seed (in the league). Then we’re out. Then the principals say we’re in. Then, the CIF says we’re out. Two days ago we’re back in and today we’re finally out.”

“That’s a lot for a 17-year-old kid to deal with. I’m 35 and I’m having trouble dealing with it,” Pascoe added.

Booster Club president Reno Bellamy suggested that the Southern Section officials should “get smart and rewrite that blue book of theirs.”

Nevertheless, he said, “we thought it was a good cause and we had to fight for them. And we took them all the way.”

The controversy centered on Roman, 17, who was declared ineligible when officials discovered as postseason play approached that he had been living with an older brother and not his mother since transferring from Maryland this year.

In the court action by Huntington Beach’s booster club, Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas N. Thrasher ruled Tuesday that even though Roman’s brother, Tony, 24, is not his legal guardian, he fulfilled the spirit of the CIF rule as a “de facto guardian.”

Moreover, Thrasher said, the boy’s mother had intended to move to Huntington Beach but was unable to sell her house in Maryland.

In Thursday’s appellate hearing, however, Justice Wallin said that if the intention to move within a school’s boundaries was all that was required, “I guarantee you you’ll see a lot of houses up for sale about every August and a lot of fine football players moving around.”

In a sworn declaration filed in appellate court, CIF-Southern Section Commissioner Stan Thomas said schools would have no incentive to abide by the rules if exceptions were allowed after violations were detected.

“Under those circumstances, the schools would be free to ‘take a chance’ and play a youngster, then if questions are raised later, to seek eligibility at that time,” Thomas reasoned. “The CIF seeks to deter this kind of conduct.”

Justice Wallin drew a parallel with the Southern Section’s rules and the game of football.

“There are lots of rules in football, too, that have nothing to do with play, but they are rules,” Wallin said. “Lining up offsides when you’re a wide receiver doesn’t make much difference, but it’s a five-yard penalty.”

As a result of the court action, Fountain Valley High School will play Fontana High School tonight in place of Huntington Beach.

In the Savanna High School case, Orange County Superior Court Commissioner Julian Cimbaluk postponed a decision until today.

A third legal effort failed Thursday when La Puente High School in Los Angeles County lost its bid to be reinstated to the playoffs. La Puente had been disqualified by its league officials because of an ineligible player. Pomona Superior Court Judge Thomas Nuss denied the school’s request for reinstatement, in part, because it was not filed in a timely manner, a school spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Coach Dick Bruich of Fontana High, the top-rated football team in the Southern Section, said: “We spent two days preparing for Huntington, two days for Fountain Valley. We spent today preparing for Huntington.

“The way I look at it, you got to live with whatever situation is dealt you; you don’t settle in court. The rule book spells out everything.”

Times staff writers Chris Foster, Steve Lowery, Elliott Teaford and Rose Ellen O’Connor contributed to this report.

COSTLY PENALTY--Emotions ranged from joy to despair among high school football players after another busy day off the field. C1