Playoffs in doubt for undefeated South Texas team

[caesarscott]

PHARR, Texas — Edcouch-Elsa High School was granted an injunction Monday that prevented a meeting to address alleged violations of player eligibility and practice rules that could knock the undefeated team out of the Texas football playoffs.

Edcouch-Elsa (10-0), ranked 10th in Class 4A in the final Associated Press poll, will appear before the State Executive Committee in Austin on Thursday, said University Interscholastic League spokeswoman Kim Rogers.

The District 32-4A Executive Committee, which had jurisdiction, met Saturday and was scheduled to reconvene Monday before a judge granted an injunction that canceled the meeting, said Rosemarie Maciel, the district executive committee chairwoman.

The agenda for Saturday's meeting called for hearings on an alleged violation involving the UIL residence rule, off-season practice regulations and paperwork involving previous participation.

Maciel said she had no details on the injunction. Edcouch-Elsa Superintendent Mike Sandroussi didn't immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

The possible ouster of Edcouch-Elsa would change all four playoff matchups involving District 32-4A in South Texas one day before they are scheduled to be played Friday.

http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/gen/ap/FBH_Playoff_Dispute.html

[hunterbunter]

BAAAAAHHHHH NOT HERE TOO!! This whole discussion is already taken over the rgvsportsforum lol.

[hunterbunter]

Oh. And I seen other articles where they claim it wont shake up any of the other playoff matchups other than the one EE would play against Tuloso-Midway.





Edcouch-Elsa must wait to learn its fate
Comments 3 | Recommend 0
November 10, 2008 - 8:53PM
Brian Sandalow
RGVSports.com

EDCOUCH -- The Yellowjackets will have to wait until Thursday to learn whether their flawless season will stand.

A District 32-4A meeting to determine the playoff eligibility of unbeaten Edcouch-Elsa was postponed Monday, with an injunction filed by E-E in Austin. University Interscholastic League spokesperson Kim Rogers said Monday that a hearing in front of the UIL's Executive Committee will take place 9 a.m. Thursday in Austin.

On Thursday, Edcouch-Elsa football coach Joe Solis and district superintendent Mike Sandroussi will attempt to prove allegations that an E-E player is ineligible are untrue. If the ‘Jackets are found to have used an ineligible player, allegations which originally were brought by Mercedes, Rogers said they will forfeit all 10 of their wins, their District 32-4A championship and be kicked out of the playoffs where they are scheduled to face Tuloso-Midway Friday night. However, if the player was found to be ineligible, E-E could make a secondary appeal in hopes of saving its season.

Solis said it was Sandroussi's decision to have E-E's case heard in Austin, and sounded as if he supported the move. He also said that "to the best of my knowledge" that E-E had proven to the UIL and the district earlier in the season that the player in question was indeed eligible to play. UIL athletic director Charles Breithaupt said Monday that the state committee had previously cleared the player in question.

Now, however, less than one week away from the postseason, Solis is being forced to defend his program against allegations he said he heard about late Friday afternoon.

"It came as a surprise because everything came so fast," Solis said. "By Saturday morning we were already having a meeting. That gave us very little time to know what was going on. I felt that it was done in a real fast type of action. I wish we had a little more time to think about it or what's going on and everything.

"But we went through it and hopefully everything will turn out all right in Austin on Thursday."

When reached, Sandroussi declined to comment.

Also affected is the fate of Mission Veterans Memorial, which finished fifth in District 32-4A and one spot out of the postseason. If the ‘Jackets were ruled ineligible, the Patriots would become the district's fourth playoff qualifier. However, since they are not a postseason team as of right now, the Patriots cannot practice without getting permission from the UIL

Like many others in the Rio Grande Valley, Mission Veterans coach Carlos Longoria simply must wait until Thursday to find out the fate out Edcouch-Elsa. Unlike everybody else, it could be Longoria's job to prepare his team for a playoff game without an optimal amount of preparation.

"Sitting here and waiting, it's madness," Longoria said. "Our whole thing is, whatever issues need to be resolved they need to be resolved diligently and in a timely manner and be done in the best interests of our district."

One thing the Patriots or the rest of District 32-4A won't have to worry about is a possible reshuffling of the district's playoff matchups. Breithaupt said the precedent for the committee would be to simply slide Mission Veterans into E-E's spot in the bracket, regardless of enrollment or record.

Edcouch-Elsa (along with Mercedes) originally qualified for the postseason as one of the district's two small schools, and was placed in the 4A-Division II tournament. Mission Veterans, for the purposes of the playoffs, would become District 32's top Division-II team, despite its enrollment.

"Teams from the other district have made preparations and it would be unfair for all teams involved to do anything other than that," Breithaupt said.