Cloud hangs over IHSA playoff bracket

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:16PM

Saturday night was supposed to be like any other following the conclusion of the IHSA football regular season: Playoff-eligible teams around the state gathering together to watch the release of the state's eight playoff brackets.

It's often a communal event, and it drives conversation and debate for weeks leading up to it - as well as the days after.

But unlike past drawings, there was a cloud hanging over this draw.

In the last month, the IHSA has ruled two players on the East St. Louis Flyers ineligible because of residency issues.

As a result, it's possible that the Flyers will have to forfeit some of its wins. That decision was not made on Friday however, and the 9-0 Flyers were allowed to be seeded in the Class 7A playoffs on Saturday.

But, IHSA executive director Dr. Marty Hickman told the Belleville News-Democrat on Friday that "if we have to make some changes, we'll make them next week."

Those changes could be as drastic as a complete re-draw of the playoff system.

"They could forfeit these games on Monday or Tuesday and we could re-draw the brackets," IHSA assistant executive director Matt Troha told the Beacon-News. "I just can't imagine a situation ... we could leave them there and have whoever was going to play them (win by) forfeit, but I just don't see us doing that."

If East St. Louis is forced to forfeit games and therefore, miss the playoffs, the school will likely file an injunction to play.

"I don't know how it's all going to play out," Troha said.

It seems only fitting that the only Beacon-News coverage area team that would be directly affected by an East St. Louis forfeiture would be the Geneva Vikings. The Vikings were seeded as a Class 6A team, but could be bumped to 7A if East St. Louis is taken out of the bracket.

In 2007, East St. Louis beat Geneva 34-26 in a classic Class 7A state quarterfinal before the Flyers fell to eventual runner-up Wheaton Warrenville South.

In 2008 the teams met again in the Class 7A state championship game, which the Flyers won easily 33-14.

Flyers defensive lineman Charles Tigue was a freshman in 2007 and a sophomore starter in 2008. He recorded one tackle for loss in the championship game.

A summer arrest revealed that Tigue had a Belleville home address, but he has played at East St. Louis all four of his years in high school. On Oct. 1, Tigue, the nephew of Flyers head coach Darren Sunkett, was ruled ineligible as the IHSA investigated his residency. On Oct. 15, he was sat down for the rest of the 2010 football season. Tigue appealed the ruling but it was upheld Friday.

It was also ruled that the Flyers had to forfeit the two games Tigue played as a freshman in 2007, which included the game against Geneva.

At this point, the reason why the 2008 state championship season is not in jeopardy for the Flyers is because the IHSA says it can only rule a player ineligible for 365 days.

"They beat us," Geneva head coach Rob Wicinski said. "Without that guy they would've beat us, I'm sure. He didn't ... at least that's my mindset. My coaches (on Saturday) are like ‘When are we going to order our rings.' Even if they declare that guy ineligible, I'm not going to order any rings. We got beat, you know? That's my mindset. Maybe I'll change my mind if that happens. They've got to tighten their ship up. Who knows how many guys they've got in that situation? Where there's smoke there's fire."

When Tigue began attending East St. Louis as a freshman, he should have been made to sit out of all athletics. He then would have been eligible to play his final three years.

But, because the IHSA just now discovered his ineligibility, the missed games in 2010 - and the two forfeited games he played in 2007 - will serve as the only punishment.

"It doesn't mean anything," Wicinski said of the additional victory from three seasons ago. "As a coach I get another win, the program gets another win. Maybe we get the hardware for a quarterfinal, I don't know.

"I feel bad for them. Those kids worked hard, they lifted the weights, they did the practices and to have a technicality knock your season out ... I think it'd be a real shame if they took a state championship trophy away from them. But again, it is what it is. We all need to be playing by the same rules. If there's smoke there's fire. Who knows? They might have a dozen guys like that and now you've got something."

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.