(News update) Westlake guilty of using ineligible player but still alive in playoffs

Wolvs forced to give up two wins among four forfeited games, playoff seeding unchanged by Monday's hearing so no disqualification

Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009

Westlake took care of business on its muddy football field Friday night in a rain-soaked Class 3A South region semifinal contest, downing Potomac in a 30-12 first-round playoffs victory.

Off the field, the defending state champion Wolverines nearly saw their playoff hopes sacked Monday when a Charles County Public Schools hearing determined the program unknowingly used an ineligible player in four games this past regular season.

The penalty for the infraction means Westlake has to forfeit each of those games – two of them being wins – from Sept. 25 through Oct. 16 in Weeks 4-7 of the regular season.

However, Potomac head coach Chris Davidson received word Monday evening from Prince George's County Athletics Supervisor Earl Hawkins that Westlake will not be dismissed from the playoffs, which would have abruptly ended its season, since the forfeits do not change Westlake's playoff fate and subsequent seeding.

Potomac would have taken Westlake's place in Friday's regional final at Huntingtown, which defeated Lackey on Saturday night.

While Westlake's playoff points decreased, the 6-4 team – after the forfeits were imposed – still remained the second-seeded outfit in the region, about 7 1/2 playoff points in front of third-seeded Potomac.

Davidson said Hawkins was relaying a message from Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association executive director Ned Sparks, who could not be reached at his Baltimore office once CCPS issued a press release Monday evening stating the outcome of the hearing.

"Technically, it appears the school unknowingly allowed an ineligible player to participate in football games during the fall sports season for 2009-10," concluded the CCPS hearing committee, comprised of deputy superintendent Ronald G. Cunningham and a panel of two others from his office. "The school and the coach took reasonable measures to verify his residence, and Charles County Public Schools Department of Student Services was involved in these efforts. Information provided by the mother in October indicates she moved out of the county some time in September. She left her son behind at her previous legal residence in the care of a relative, who is not a legal guardian.

"Therefore, he is not a legal Charles County resident and ineligible to attend a Charles County public school or participate in Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association-sanctioned events."

Undisclosed sources have named sophomore running back Davon Taylor as being Westlake's ineligible player.

Taylor played in five games for Westlake – winning three of them – as he rushed for 177 yards on 19 carries while making three catches for 126 yards. He scored four touchdowns.

His contribution to Westlake's season-opening 40-3 win over Chopticon must have come before he was deemed ineligible by the CCPS hearing.

Taylor is no longer listed on the most recent copy of Westlake's roster.

Westlake head coach Dominic Zaccarelli was reached shortly after the CCPS press release, and at that time, he was full speed ahead at taking his program's case before the MPSSAA appeals committee scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday in an effort to overturn the forfeits imposed by Monday's CCPS hearing.

The only head coach in Westlake history was under the impression at the time he was reached by phone that he needed to have Monday's hearing overturned by the MPSSAA appeals committee in order to keep his team's season alive.

Zaccarelli could not be reached once it was learned that the forfeits had no bearing on his team's playoff fate, and Westlake was still slated to play Huntingtown, according to Davidson.

"I'll still contend, we did not play an ineligible player. The documents will confirm that," Zaccarelli said. "I believe that all the documentation will go into ruling in our favor [at the appeals hearing]. I have no doubt, or maybe it's blind faith, when we get in front of that committee that everything we've done will prove to be on the up-and-up. The decision to have Westlake forfeit games is incorrect.

He added, "Every step of the way, myself, my principal and my [pupil personnel worker] didn't hide anything. We turned everything over to the appropriate people at the Board of Ed, and at that time, I believed everything would turn out in our favor."

Zaccarelli would not get into the specifics of his case. Nor would he confirm Taylor was the player involved in the situation.

"I'll be willing to talk more about it after the [appeals] decision is rendered," he said before it was learned that Sparks had reached Hawkins about Westlake's seeding not changing from the forfeits.

"We believe the coach, the school and the school system did everything possible to verify the student's residency and that no one knowingly allowed an ineligible student to play," Cunningham said in the CCPS press release. "State rules, however, list forfeiture as the first sanction and we do not believe they distinguish between knowingly or unknowingly."

"Personally, I didn't think it would come out that way," Zaccarelli added about forfeits imposed upon his program. "But that's neither here nor there."

MPSSAA rules stipulate that any changes to the regional seeding after noon Nov. 9, when the playoff draw is decided, results in the involving team being disqualified from the postseason. In that case, the opponent last defeated replaces the disqualified team.

Westlake slipped from an 8-2 record to 6-4 by the conclusion of the CCPS hearing, tying Potomac's mark. Westlake still remained ahead in playoff points, because its two wins that were forfeited were against two-win Leonardtown and winless Thomas Stone. Leonardtown's second victory was a result of a forfeit win over Patuxent for that school using an ineligible player.

So only 17 total playoff points were lost by Westlake. Playoff points are determined by the classification and wins of defeated opponents.

"We didn't ask to be put in this position, so we don't want something we didn't deserve," Davidson said. "The only thing that's difficult for us is we did practice [Monday] and for our seniors, there is no real finality to our season. We went into Monday working on some stuff."

dcogle@somdnews.com