PREP FOOTBALL : Huntington Beach, La Puente Playoff Appeals Denied

Twenty-four hours before its big game, Huntington Beach High School was thrown out of the playoffs Thursday by appellate court justices who lectured the team’s booster club attorneys on the importance of playing by the rules.

Huntington Beach had been cited by the California Interscholastic Federation’s Southern Section as having played tackle David Roman, 17, who was ineligible because he lived with a brother instead of his mother since moving from Maryland. Rules require that an athlete live with a parent or legal guardian upon transfer.

Elsewhere, Savanna High School of Anaheim, which also was barred Tuesday from the playoffs because of an ineligible player, is due in court today to seek reinstatement.

And Pomona Superior Court Judge Thomas Nuss denied La Puente High School’s attempt to be in the playoffs. La Puente also had been disqualified because of an ineligible player.

Because the La Puente request was denied, Covina Northview, the No. 3 team in Valle Vista League, will play top-seeded Hacienda Heights Wilson, the No. 1 team from the Sierra League, tonight at Wilson High.

And 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.”

Now, it’s Fountain Valley.

In the Huntington Beach case, a three-judge panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal unanimously sided with Sunset League officials who had disqualified the Oilers from the playoffs.

“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?”