St. Francis forfeits football season, out of state tourney

Three weeks after clinching the school’s first trip to the state football tournament, St. Francis was forced Friday to forfeit its entire season due to the use of an ineligible player.

Dr. Casey Asato, who was named head of school in August, said in a joint statement with the Interscholastic League of Honolulu: “Due to misinformation in the admissions process five years ago, this fell through the cracks. It was brought to our attention and we need to abide by the regulations of the ILH. It was the right thing to do.”

According to the statement, the issue revolved around a player who transferred in from a public school four years (five seasons) ago and was a member of that school’s junior varsity team as a freshman.

He was forced to repeat a grade once he enrolled at St. Francis despite having already taking ninth-grade classes at Aiea.

He then played a year of intermediate football at St. Francis and was participating in his third year of varsity football, making him a fifth-year senior.

A rule in the ILH handbook states: “The eligibility of a student who transfers shall be based on his or her academic record at the school from which he or she transfers.”

A player has four years to complete his eligibility once he enters ninth grade.

Saints football coach Kip Akana had no comment when reached by phone.

Sources said a copy of Aiea’s 2014 eligibility list with the player’s name on it was brought to the attention of the ILH on Thursday.

When reached by phone on Friday, Aiea head coach Wendell Say said he did not know anything about the issue.

The Saints were 9-0 overall and 8-0 in ILH Division II this season. St. Francis played its first season of varsity football in 2013.

Under the new OIA-ILH football alliance, the ILH’s lone bid in the D-II state tournament goes to whichever team finishes higher in D-II between St. Francis and Pac-Five.

The Wolfpack, who thought their season ended last Friday with a 14-6 win over Waialua, will likely replace the Saints in the state tournament due to St. Francis dropping out. Sources say that will indeed happen, but it has not been officially announced by the ILH or the Hawaii High School Athletic Association. Pac-Five coach Kip Botehlo has not heard officially that it is time to unpack the pads that were stored away last week.

In 2010, the Kahuku football team was prohibited from playing in the OIA playoffs and state Division I tournament for using an ineligible player. The Red Raiders were 10-0 at the time of the decision.

St. Francis is also dealing with a transfer issue regarding athlete Skylar Kalilikane-McMoore, who came to the school in August 2017 from Pearl City and sat out all of the 2017 season for the Saints.

He was not allowed to play this season either because he participated in 11 practices in July 2017 for the Chargers, which is against HHSAA rules. His family is suing the ILH, HHSAA and OIA. A judge in that case denied a preliminary injunction that would have allowed Kalilikane-McMoore to play in games against opponents in leagues other than the ILH.

The ILH declared the lineman eligible under its rules, which caps a player’s sit-out time at 12 months. He got to play in the Saints’ only game against an ILH opponent, Pac-Five.

However, under HHSAA rules, seven days or more of practice constitutes participating in that particular season. Thus it was determined he did play in 2017 and had to sit out in 2018.