Contact: Geoff Kimmerly
517.332.5046 or [email protected]
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Oct. 29 – The Michigan High School Athletic Association has withdrawn Grand Rapids Catholic Central High School from the 11-Player Division 5 Football Playoffs as a result of its using an ineligible player in six games during the regular season.
Grand Rapids Catholic Central was set to host Comstock Park on Friday (Oct. 30) in a District Semifinal. Instead, Comstock Park will advance to face either Berrien Springs or Lake Odessa Lakewood in a District Final during the first weekend of November. Berrien Springs and Lakewood play their District Semifinal on Friday.
Catholic Central finished the regular season 7-2, including 5-1 with the ineligible player participating. Catholic Central will forfeit those six games, although the additional victories for its opponents will not affect those teams’ playoff-point averages nor their matchups this week or during the rest of this year’s playoffs.
Catholic Central was notified of the violation and its removal from the postseason today (Oct. 29). “Throughout the investigation, Grand Rapids Catholic Central’s administration has been fully cooperative and highly professional,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said.
The MHSAA will have no further comment at this time.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.
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