BLUFFTON, S.C. — The latest effort to put Goose Creek back in the South Carolina state football playoffs was dismissed Wednesday in federal court.
That means Bluffton, which lost to Goose Creek 35-25 last week before the top-ranked Gators were disqualified Monday for using an ineligible player, is still scheduled visit Northwestern in the Class AAAA Division II semifinals Friday.
The player filed a lawsuit Wednesday morning to halt Friday’s game.
The suit was filed under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which protects disabled people from discrimination by public agencies. It requested a temporary restraining order against the South Carolina High School League that would have allowed Goose Creek to play Northwestern.
Judge Charles Weston Houck in Charleston denied the motion because the player’s attorneys failed to serve the SCHSL with the lawsuit.
The player was identified for the first time in the suit as Justice Roemello Rogers.
Rogers is a special needs student with a learning disability, according to the suit. He was ruled ineligible by the SCHSL executive committee Monday for a second time. The suit argued he is protected under the federal act and should be eligible to play.
The filing came fewer than 24 hours after Goose Creek principal Jimmy Huskey and coach Chuck Reedy said at a Tuesday news conference the school had exhausted all options in fighting its disqualification.
The school deemed Rogers eligible in August, but an updated transcript revealed last week he is in his fifth year of high school and out of eligibility. Huskey reported the finding to SCHSL commissioner Jerome Singleton, who disqualified the team.
Goose Creek successfully sued for a temporary restraining order Friday, which allowed it to play Bluffton. The Gators won, but they were again booted out of the playoffs in a second appeal hearing Monday.