Morningside High Expected to Forfeit Football Title : Preps: Use of an ineligible player during 1991 season will likely cost the Monarchs the Southern Section Division VIII championship.

Morningside High is expected to be stripped of the 1991 Southern Section Division VIII football title because it used an ineligible player last season, Southern Section Commissioner Stan Thomas said.

Stacy Maxwell, an All-Ocean League defensive lineman who helped the Monarchs to an 11-2 record and their first section football title, reportedly had turned 19 before Sept. 1 of last year, making him too old to compete in interscholastic athletics. Maxwell, who was a junior, also may have violated residency and academic requirements, Thomas said.

“Somehow he got through the loop at Morningside and played the whole season,” Thomas said. “It would appear that the school will forfeit their championship and return their plaque.”

Thomas said Morningside has agreed to return the championship plaque Aug. 8, when the Southern Section Executive Committee will meet to hear the case and hand down a ruling. George McKenna, superintendent of the Inglewood Unified School District, and Morningside Principal Liza Daniels are expected to attend the meeting.

Thomas said the Division VIII championship will remain vacant if the title is taken away from Morningside. The Monarchs defeated Temecula Valley, 27-20, in the division final Dec. 14 at Temecula Valley.

McKenna said Maxwell gained eligibility at Morningside with forged records. Maxwell’s actual age was not discovered until recently, after he had “gotten into an altercation with the legal system,” McKenna said.

At that time, Daniels informed the school board and McKenna that a rules violation apparently had occurred. McKenna then wrote a letter informing the Southern Section.

“It appears that we have an ineligible-player situation,” McKenna said. “I’m trying to find out why. Every possible aspect is being investigated.”

This is the second time in recent months that the Inglewood school district has been hit by an athletic scandal. Inglewood High’s football team was placed on probation by the Southern Section for playing three academically ineligible transfers last season, including one whose transcript was found to have been doctored.

“It’s extremely unfortunate,” McKenna said. “The district will take immediate and severe action. We have no tolerance for lax record-keeping and use of ineligible athletes. My philosophy is that we play fair with eligible players. Winning is not the most important thing.

“I’m not sure yet who is responsible. In other cases, the responsible parties have been disciplined.”

According to a source who requested anonymity, Maxwell enrolled at Morningside last fall with the assistance of Hollis Dillon, director of special services for the Inglewood school district. Maxwell did not attend high school for most of the 1990-91 academic year after leaving Morningside following the 1989-90 school year, the source said.

Dillon denied that he helped Maxwell enroll at Morningside.

“No one from the district office enrolls students,” Dillon said. “The system does not permit me or any other administrator to enroll a kid.”

Asked about the allegations against Dillon, McKenna said: “I don’t know about that yet. That’s a personnel matter.”

Dillon and McKenna said they believed Maxwell was enrolled by his mother, who reportedly provided Morningside with fraudulent records.

The Maxwells could not be reached for comment.

“Why we didn’t catch it, I don’t know,” McKenna said. “It simply may have been a clerical error, or it could have been intentional.”

Keith Long, a recent graduate who was an All-Southern Section defensive back for Morningside, said Maxwell told him on Monday that he had recently turned 20, meaning he was 19 well before last fall.

According to state federation rules, “No student whose 19th birthday is attained prior to Sept. 1 shall participate or practice on any team.”

Stais Boseman, Morningside’s all-state quarterback, said he was suspicious of Maxwell’s age last season.

“I always thought he was older because he had a big, thick mustache,” Boseman said. “He told everybody that he was 18 and would not be able to play as a senior. . . People are always accusing me of being too old, so I believed him.”

Boseman said Maxwell showed him and other Morningside players a photocopy of his birth certificate last season to prove that he was not too old to play football.

Boseman, the 1991 Division VIII player of the year who will be a senior in the fall, said it will be a great disappointment if Morningside is forced to forfeit its title.

“I feel a little empty,” he said. “We did all that hard work and now it looks like (the championship) is going to taken away from us.

“It’s embarrassing for the community, but I don’t think our school or our coaches are to blame.”

Morningside football Coach Ron Tatum said he knows little of the situation involving Maxwell. He was informed last week that an apparent rules violation had taken place last season.

Asked if the reports of Maxwell’s age could be true, Tatum said: “It’s possible, but I don’t get transcripts. It’s not any information that I would have.”

Tatum described Maxwell as a steady lineman but not an impact player.

“I never had any problems with him,” Tatum said. “It’s kind of difficult to believe that this is true, just knowing what I know of him. I’ll be honest, I want to get to the bottom of it too.”

Thomas said it appears the Southern Section has a strong case against the Monarchs based on the evidence provided by McKenna.

“My concern is that they let (Maxwell) play without an official transcript,” Thomas said. “We’re hoping to find out why that happened.”

Thomas said he feels bad for the schools that Morningside beat during the playoffs on its way to the Division VIII title. The Monarchs defeated Nordhoff of Ojai, Valley View of Moreno Valley and top-seeded Atascadero before meeting 1990 division champion Temecula Valley in the final.