GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A high school football playoff game will be played Tuesday night, after the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled against the Michigan High School Athletic Association's motion to cancel the game.
The game was called off 24 hours before it was scheduled on Friday, October 30 after the Michigan High School Athletic Association ruled that an ineligible player had been on Grand Rapids Catholic Central's roster. The MHSAA said the player had played the previous year at Comstock Park and had not made the move necessary to qualify to play football at Catholic Central this fall.
The ruling meant Catholic Central could not participate in the playoffs as planned.
Several student-athletes at Catholic Central sued on Friday, filing a request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the MHSAA, allowing the team to play in the postseason. A 17th Circuit Court judge granted the TRO the same day.
On Sunday, the game was rescheduled for Tuesday night, but the MHSAA filed a motion with the state Court of Appeals, asking for the TRO to be recinded.
On Tuesday, just over two hours before kickoff was scheduled, a Court of Appeals panel denied the MHSAA's motion in a 2-1 vote. That decision will allow the delayed postseason game to happen Tuesday, with Catholic Central hosting Comstock Park.
The evidence in the MHSAA's investigation
At the center of the dispute is a video the MHSAA says served as proof of the player's ineligibility. The video shows what court records identify as the student's grandfather, Wes Cummings — a local realtor and former athletic director — giving a home tour to someone he believed was interested in buying the family's home in Comstock Park. During the tour, the person recording the video can be heard asking, "Is this the football player's room?"
The person who recorded the video identified herself as Angela Goyette. Attempts to reach Goyette were unsuccessful, as the phone number on file was disconnected.
Grand Rapids
MHSAA cites video evidence in Grand Rapids Catholic Central eligibility dispute
In a sworn affidavit, Cummings said the photos on the wall during the home tour were part of staging the home for sale and that his grandson had not lived there for some time.
Cummings addressed the person who recorded the video, saying, "I hope that when these folks look back on their behavior in a couple years, they're as embarrassed about it as I am for them right now."
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