Oxnard Plans to Fight Order to Forfeit Two Football Wins : Southern Section: Confusion over rule blamed after Yellowjacket player is found to be ineligible.

Oxnard High officials said Tuesday that they will appeal the Southern Section’s demand that the football team forfeit two wins because it used an ineligible player, but Athletic Director Tony Diaz says it is “a shot in the dark.”

Stan Thomas, the Southern Section commissioner, informed Oxnard on Oct. 1 that the Yellowjackets must forfeit non-league wins over Camarillo and Channel Islands because reserve running back Kelly Kendrick had played in those games. Kendrick, a senior who had transferred from Buena before the school year, had not moved to another public school’s attendance area in accordance with Southern Section rules.

“The key here is that (Kendrick) did not leave one public school’s attendance area and move to another public school attendance area,” Thomas said.

In effect, to satisfy Southern Section rules Kendrick would have had to move from the Oxnard attendance area to become eligible to play for Oxnard High.

Kendrick, who attended Buena--in the Ventura School District--during his freshman and sophomore years, had changed residences and transferred to Oxnard--in the Oxnard Union High School District--for the second semester of his sophomore year. He returned to Buena for his junior year, and, as a hardship case, was permitted to do so without changing residences.

Because of disciplinary reasons, Kendrick’s inter-district transfer permit was revoked at the end of last school year. He returned to Oxnard High and changed residences but did not move out of the school’s attendance area.

Ruperto Cisneros, Oxnard’s principal, said in a prepared statement Tuesday that the school had not violated any rules.

Cisneros said that Oxnard will base its appeal on a rule that allows an athlete to retain his eligibility under two stipulations: that it is a bona fide change of residence from one school attendance area to another, and it is not for disciplinary reasons.

Kendrick does not satisfy either provision, yet Oxnard officials will send the Southern Section a formal letter of appeal today.

“It’s a shot in the dark, but it’s all we can do for the kid,” Diaz said.”

According to Thomas, Diaz had contacted the Southern Section office in early September and assured officials that Kendrick had satisfied the change-of-address provision. But a further investigation revealed that Kendrick had not.

“(Diaz) was a little foggy on the rule,” Thomas said. “And Ruperto didn’t have a real good handle on it, either.”

Said Cisneros: “We thought we were in the clear, based on the information we had. We felt we had taken the necessary steps. We weren’t trying to pull a fast one.”

Oxnard’s record falls to 1-5, pending review of the appeal by the Southern Section’s three-member executive committee, which Thomas said would occur within 10 days.

The controversy also has fueled a bitter rivalry between the two schools, which stems from a postgame fight last season that was investigated by the NAACP. Oxnard Coach Jack Davis accused both the officials and Buena players of being racially biased against Oxnard.

John R. Hatcher III, president of the Ventura County chapter of the NAACP, said he is, in part, investigating a complaint that Buena High expelled Kendrick because he is black.

Hatcher said that he has drafted a letter of complaint to the Ventura School District and threatens to take further action if Kendrick’s athletic eligibility is not restored.