Mission Viejo High May Forfeit Its Wins

The athletic eligibility of Mission Viejo High School’s best running back is being investigated, opening up the possibility that the football team may have to forfeit its five victories this season.

Administrators at Mission Viejo failed to file a transfer-eligibility request or submit a hardship appeal after Marcellus Chrishon moved from Temecula Valley to Mission Viejo and enrolled in September, according to Dean Crowley, associate commissioner of the California Interscholastic Federation’s Southern Section.

If Chrishon is ruled ineligible, Mission Viejo, the sixth-ranked team in Orange County, would have to forfeit its victories. A decision could come this week.

Chrishon, a senior, is the county’s ninth-leading rusher with 628 yards in 97 carries and 10 touchdowns. He made headlines two weeks ago by rushing for 201 yards and four touchdowns against Mater Dei.

Chrishon was ineligible to play football at Temecula Valley last fall when he moved there from Phoenix to live with his aunt. But he competed on Temecula Valley’s track team when his mother, Rose Davis, moved to the Temecula area.

Sometime after the track season, Chrishon’s mother granted legal guardianship of her son to Louis and Nelida Amposta, longtime friends of the family. In July, the Ampostas and Chrishon moved to Mission Viejo.

However, Crowley said no records of the change of guardianship have been filed with his office.

“There was no appeal for hardship, and as far as we know, the mother is still living in Temecula, according to our records,” Crowley said. “Any game that the boy played in (would) have to be forfeited.”

Mission Viejo has beaten Long Beach Jordan, Oceanside El Camino, San Diego Crawford, Mater Dei and San Clemente, and lost to Rancho Buena Vista. Chrishon has played in all six games.

Robert Metz, Mission Viejo’s principal, declined to discuss the situation. “I don’t know the exact details at this time,” Metz said. “I have a vice principal (Morris Hawkins) who handles all athletic-eligibility cases.

“The boy is living with legal guardians, and he’s been with them a long time. I really can’t comment any further until I have all the details.”

Coaches at Mission Viejo were told by Metz not to discuss the Chrishon situation with the media.

Bill Clark, Southern Section administrator in charge of football, has asked Metz to investigate Chrishon’s eligibility before the Southern Section makes a ruling.

“For all we know, no paper work has been received at this office, and we’ve double-checked our records,” Crowley said. “The bottom line is, I think he’s ineligible.”

The Southern Section is the largest of 10 regional sections of the CIF, which oversees high school sports in California.

Chrishon said he originally moved to California because “there is a better opportunity to work and play football here.”

Chrishon led Temecula Valley’s track team to a second-place finish in the Southern Section 1-A division championships last spring. He competed in the 100 and 200 meters and anchored the school’s 400-meter relay team.

A routine check of Chrishon’s track records at Temecula Valley by a Times reporter doing a feature story raised some questions about Chrishon’s eligibility at Mission Viejo.

Nick Anderson, varsity track and assistant football coach at Temecula Valley, said school administrators were unsuccessful in their attempt to obtain eligibility for Chrishon for the 1989 football season while he was living with his aunt.

“We tried to get him eligible through a legal guardianship but were denied,” he said. “When he moved to Mission Viejo, we just assumed Marcellus was living with his mother.”

Last season, Huntington Beach and Savanna forfeited league titles because of an ineligible player. The Mission Viejo case is similar to the one in Huntington Beach in which lineman David Roman was declared ineligible after it was discovered that he was living with his brother in Huntington Beach’s attendance area while his mother remained in Maryland.

“It’s the Huntington Beach situation all over again,” Crowley said. “No one at Mission Viejo filled out an eligibility card or this could have been discovered before the season started.”

Stan Ford, boys’ athletic director at Temecula Valley, said he never received forms regarding Chrishon’s transfer from Temecula to Mission Viejo or a change in guardianship.

“In retrospect, I wish I would have contacted the new school,” Ford said. “He was with us all spring and half the summer, and then just disappeared.”

MISSION VIEJO’S SEASON Date: Sept. 7 Opponent: Long Beach Jordan Result: W, 42-12 Record: 1-0 Marcellus Chrishon’s Contribution: 90 yards, 12 carries, 2 touchdowns Date: Sept. 15 Opponent: Rancho Buena Vista Result: L, 45-24 Record: 1-1 Marcellus Chrishon’s Contribution: 44 yards, 12 carries, 0 touchdowns Date: Sept. 21 Opponent: Oceanside El Camino Result: W, 14-6 Record: 2-1 Marcellus Chrishon’s Contribution: 75 yards, 16 carries, 1 touchdown Date: Sept. 27 Opponent: San Diego Crawford Result: W, 39-0 Record: 3-1 Marcellus Chrishon’s Contribution: 93 yards, 15 carries, 2 touchdowns Date: Oct. 6 Opponent: Mater Dei Result: W, 42-23 Record: 4-1 Marcellus Chrishon’s Contribution: 201 yards, 21 carries, 4 touchdowns Date: Oct. 13 Opponent: San Clemente Result: W, 32-17 Record: 5-1 Marcellus Chrishon’s Contribution: 125 yards, 21 carries, 1 touchdown