VALLEY / VENTURA COUNTY SPORTS : HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK : Porter’s Playing Status in Jeopardy

Michael Porter, a senior linebacker at Verdugo Hills High who overcame almost a year of juvenile detention to return to high school and become a college prospect, is facing the possible loss of his athletic eligibility.

Porter played last season at Kilpatrick, a juvenile detention facility. He was released last December, re-enrolled at Verdugo Hills and impressed coaches, teachers and teammates at Verdugo Hills with his dedication to football and school.

But Barbara Fiege, City Section commissioner, informed school officials Tuesday that Porter’s eligibility is under investigation. He may be in violation of state transfer rule 214, requiring him to sit out a year. The question is whether there are extenuating circumstances.

“The athletic director is mad, the principal is mad, the coach is mad,” Verdugo Hills Coach Don Scott said. “We’re supposed to be helping these kids and now we’re making it hard. We’ve been pushing this kid in the right direction.”

Added Principal Gary Turner: “I’m mad that the athletics office is even considering his ineligibility because the kid has done everything he’s had to do, and because of some loophole, they are looking into not allowing him to play. That’s the wrong decision. He’s paid his price.”

Porter, 16, was arrested for carjacking in January of 1998.

He was set to start at middle linebacker for the Dons.

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When Coach Steve Hagerty of Paraclete was preparing his team to face De La Salle in Minneapolis last week, there was no warning about mosquitoes. The Spirits won the game, 37-24, but the players lost the battle with the insects.

“We played by a swamp,” Hagerty said. “[The bites] really zapped them. I think the mosquitoes were the one thing in the scouting report we didn’t anticipate.”

Players had bites up and down their legs. It was the only hitch in a trip Hagerty called “great.”

Players went to the Mall of Americas and the Metrodome. They took a tour of the University of Minnesota. Nobody got into trouble, but Hagerty did run into “at least six tables of kids” hanging out at Hooters.