Santa Ana’s Infractions May Result in 4 Forfeits

Santa Ana High School has notified Southern Section officials that its football team played five nonleague games with two academically ineligible players, a violation of California Interscholastic Federation rules, The Times has learned.

The infractions, according to Andrew Hernandez, Santa Ana principal, probably will result in Santa Ana forfeits of its four nonleague victories.

Tight end Albert Ruiz and wide receiver Royal Wilbon, senior starters, were ineligible to play football during the first half of the 1987 fall semester.

“I thought they were eligible, and knowing that we have a contending team, I took the extra step to make sure we double-checked everything,� Hernandez said. “Through the double-checking process, we were able to come up with the fact that we were in violation of a CIF rule.

“Once knowing that, my statement to my staff was that if it was necessary for us to be penalized, it was better to be penalized for nonleague games than league games.�

Ruiz and Wilbon failed to meet the state’s 2.0 grade-point average rule during the 1987 spring semester. That rule states that a student must maintain a C average to be eligible to participate in extracurricular activities such as football, band or pep squad.

Ruiz and Wilbon received Ds in a world history class in the spring and were noted as being ineligible on a master list of all students participating in extracurricular activities at the school.

Each attempted to improve the grade and his overall GPA by repeating the course in the summer. But, under CIF rules, a student can only make up a failing grade (F) by going to summer school. A grade of D is considered passing.

Though Ruiz and Wilbon say they each received A’s in their summer school class, those grades were not allowed to be used as makeup grades. Therefore, their spring semester GPAs were not affected, and both were ineligible when the 1987-88 school year began.

“It’s a matter of applying the rules,� said Dick Hill, Santa Ana coach. “I didn’t know the particular rule, and I should have. I was wrong. I take responsibility for this.

“If the rule was applied correctly, then they (Ruiz and Wilbon) shouldn’t have played to begin with.�

But the players were allowed to participate in Santa Ana’s five nonleague games. Hernandez said he is uncertain who declared Ruiz and Wilbon eligible.

“I haven’t looked into specifically who pulled the trigger (made the players eligible),� he said.

Ruiz and Wilbon were held out of Santa Ana’s Century League opening-game victory against Canyon last Friday after Hernandez’s staff determined that they were ineligible.

“The error on our part was that we were not clear enough on that (CIF rule),� Hernandez said. “And we did not catch it soon enough. Once we caught it, at that point, there was a meeting with the athletic director (Bob Halford) and director of guidance (Will Koehn). The determination was made that those people were ineligible, simple as that.�

Ruiz said Hill told him that enrolling and getting at least a C in a summer school class would make him eligible for the 1987 season. Ruiz, Wilbon and the rest of the team found out the two players were ineligible when Hill informed them before the Canyon game.

Hernandez said Ruiz and Wilbon could regain their eligibility as early as Wednesday, when mid-semester grades are released. They could be in uniform for Santa Ana’s game against El Modena Thursday night.

“At that point, when we have a list, that’s when people become eligible and ineligible,� Hernandez said.

Ruiz said Hill also informed the team that the Saints, 5-1 and ranked No. 4 in Orange County, probably would have to forfeit nonleague victories over Saddleback, Mater Dei, Mission Viejo and Ocean View.

“Coach Hill said it didn’t matter, though,� Ruiz said. “Because those teams know what we did to them.�

Stan Thomas, Southern Section commissioner, could not be reached for comment.