Chrishon Is Ruled Eligible : Prep sports: Southern Section decides that Mission Viejo High running back can continue playing. School presents evidence that player’s mother lives in attendance area.

Southern Section administrators ruled Thursday that Mission Viejo High School running back Marcellus Chrishon is eligible to continue playing football after school officials presented evidence that they said showed his mother is living within the school’s attendance area.

The ruling was made following a meeting between Southern Section administrators Dean Crowley and Bill Clark; Robert Metz, Mission Viejo principal, and representatives of the Saddleback Valley Unified School District.

Chrishon’s eligibility was questioned because section officials said they had failed to receive a transfer-eligibility request or hardship appeal when he transferred from Temecula Valley in July.

Chrishon was ineligible to play football last fall at Temecula Valley, where he lived with his aunt after moving from Phoenix. He later competed on the track team there 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 Luis and Nelida Amposta, longtime friends of the family. Crowley had said Wednesday that no records of the change of guardianship had been filed with his office and added, “As far as we know, the mother is still living in Temecula.”

Southern Section and school officials declined to discuss details involving Thursday’s meeting and released a statement that read: “The CIF Southern Section office met and reviewed the material presented by the Mission Viejo High School principal (Bob Metz) and assistant principal (Morris Hawkins).

“From the information presented, it was determined by the Southern Section office that the athlete (Chrishon) is eligible under the provisions of the CIF-SS rules and regulations.”

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

A Southern Section official confirmed again Thursday that no records of Chrishon’s transfer or a request for hardship eligibility is on file at the section office.

School and section officials were instructed not to comment about the absence of both forms or how that affected Chrishon’s eligibility.

Davis, an unemployed nurse, said she is living with the Amposta family along with her husband, Chrishon’s stepfather, Charles Rivers.

When contacted Thursday, Davis said, “I was living in the Mission Viejo area before the Ampostas moved here. All this is a bunch of bull.”

Rivers said school officials met with his wife and Luis and Nelida Amposta on Thursday morning before conferring with Southern Section officials.

“We had a big meeting at the house and got everything straightened out,” Rivers said. “The CIF has all the facts. Anything else that you need to know, you’ll have to get from our attorney.”

Rivers referred further questions to Hiram deFries, offensive back coach at Mission Viejo and the family’s legal consultant. He was not available for comment Thursday night.

When interviewed Tuesday for a feature story, Chrishon talked about the transition of moving into the Amposta’s Mission Viejo home and referred to Nelida as “my second mother.”

“It’s great living with the Amposta family,” Chrishon said. “They treat me just like one of their own kids. Mrs. Amposta is just like my mother.”

Chrishon was pictured with the Amposta family in a featured “Senior Families of the Week” in Mission Viejo’s game program last Saturday. Davis, Chrishon’s mother, is not in the photograph.

Dana Hills Coach Don Douglass said the incident has become commonplace in high school sports.

“It’s a sign of the times,” Douglass said. “Parents are shopping around for the best school for their kids, and a situation like this comes up.”

Mission Viejo, the sixth-ranked team in the Orange County Sportswriters’ Assn. high school football poll with a 5-1 record, meets host Dana Hills (3-2-1) at 7:30 tonight in South Coast League play.

Bob Johnson, coach at rival El Toro High School, was disappointed when he learned that Chrishon had been ruled eligible.

“That’s a joke,” Johnson said. “It’s a mockery of high school football. Three different guardians in the last three years. . . . It just makes a joke out of high school football.”