To be the man, you’ve got to beat the man, or chop block your opponent in the process.

The figurative man and opponent is Cathedral High School in this latest episode of a high school football drama that has captivated its audience this summer.

Earlier this month, the Mississippi High School Activities Association decided to reaffirm an existing rule of banning out-of-state students from competing in athletics.

The decision and the refusal to grandfather in existing students hit private and parochial schools at the knees.

MHSAA Executive Director Don Hinton said the board reached a point where it needed to enforce the rule. Is it a coincidence that point was reached just after Cathedral won two state championships?

Those two championships are two of five state championships won in the last five years by parochial and private schools in Class 1A and 2A.

As you can imagine, complaints sprouted. The whispers, tweets in some cases, reached the ears of Hinton and the board, leading to a 7-to-5 vote in favor of upholding the out-of-state rule.

Interestingly enough, the quarterback on Cathedral’s 2014 championship team was Wyatt Boothe, a Frogmore, La., resident, who transferred from Trinity Episcopal Day School in 2014.

Boothe’s eligibility was called into question, but was later affirmed.

During Cathedral’s 49-14 state championship victory against St. Aloysius, another parochial school affected by the ruling, Stringer Attendance Center principal Jay Arrington tweeted the following: “Recruits having great game #greenwave.”

Such sore loser comments are beneath someone who is in Arrington’s position.

Three days after the MHSAA had discussions with Cathedral about Boothe’s eligibility, Arrington tweeted, “MHSAA administration needs to man up and admit screw up in Cathedral situation. Whoever ruled the kid eligible needs to resign or be fired.”

Arrington’s comments seem directly squarely at Hinton, despite Hinton’s denial.

“The rule has not been strictly enforced, but it has since we’ve been here,” said Hinton after meeting with Cathedral headmaster Pat Sanguinetti and other Diocese of Jackson headmasters Monday. “We’ve not approved a single transfer from out-of-state.”

Hinton has been the executive director since July 1, 2011. Boothe was green lighted to transfer to Cathedral last summer.

Had the out-of-state rule been in place and enforced over the last few decades, Cathedral wouldn’t have an argument on which to stand.

But with an estimated 78 Cathedral students from Louisiana, and many alumni having both lived in Louisiana and played at the school in the past, Cathedral’s frustrations with the ruling are understandable, especially if you consider the 20-mile radius scenario. MHSAA rules state players must reside within a 20-mile radius to be eligible to participate in athletics, but what happens to Cathedral, and other border schools, when a state border cuts that radius in half?

Leveling the playing field is the reasoning behind MHSAA’s sudden desire to enforce the out-of-state rule, trying to eliminate a “competitive advantage” in the process. Who knew athletes born in neighboring states have athletic supremacy over Mississippi natives?

On July 21, the MHSAA will have an executive committee meeting again discussing whether private and parochial schools would be allowed to let in students from neighboring states, within a 20-mile radius of the school.

Sanguinetti said he plans to have a proposal ready, looking to sway two votes in the Diocese of Jackson’s favor.

The board’s decision and the apparent politicking behind it, particularly without regard for existing players, seem as dirty as the most blatant chop block. But in this case the officials are the ones making the infraction.

 

JAKE MARTIN is the sports editor for The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3633 or jake.martin@natchezdemocrat.com.