CHICAGO _ A Cook County judge on Wednesday turned back a legal challenge by Fenwick High School to overturn its disputed loss in a football playoff game last weekend.
The ruling by Judge Kathleen Kennedy came in a lawsuit filed by Fenwick against the Illinois High School Association, which had refused to hear an appeal by the private Catholic school in Oak Park, citing a bylaw declaring that decisions by officials shall be final.
The decision clears the way for Plainfield North High School to play in the Class 7A championship against East St. Louis on Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign.
"Here, as on the playing field, one side wins and one side loses," Kennedy said before ruling that only the IHSA's board had the legal authority to overturn a game's outcome.
Fenwick Principal Peter Groom expressed disappointment with the ruling but wished both Plainfield North and its Saturday opponent well and said no further legal action would be pursued.
"We owed our students a fair hearing of their grievance," he said. "We received a fair hearing, and now it's finished."
Craig Anderson, the IHSA's executive director, applauded the judge for following the law.
"I think this is all about sportsmanship," he told reporters. "What we saw here today was positive between both schools."
A mistaken decision by officials with no time left allowed Plainfield North to tie last weekend's game with a field goal in regulation and then win 18-17 in overtime on a two-point conversion.
Kennedy ruled in a Daley Center courtroom packed mostly with Fenwick supporters and a few players. Fenwick's lawyer had warned the crowd to stay quiet and show respect for her ruling no matter how it went.
Fenwick's lawyer, Peter Rush, said officials didn't have the authority to continue the game and by doing so violated IHSA bylaws that rules will be enforced.
Rush disputed the IHSA's claim that its bylaws blocked it from correcting the controversial loss, saying the agency did just that with a downstate soccer game.
David Bressler, an IHSA attorney, said officials make hundreds of bad calls every week and that courts would be flooded with lawsuits if Fenwick won the legal fight.
"I wish there was a way that Fenwick could participate in the game, but there's not," Bressler said. "Sometimes the law is not fair."
Todd Faulkner, a lawyer for Plainfield North, said the school "respects the passion" of Fenwick fans but that Plainfield feels the same about playing in the championship game.
Near the end of regulation in Saturday's semifinal game, Fenwick was clinging to a 10-7 lead and had the ball at its own 15-yard line. With four seconds left, the Friars' quarterback threw a deep pass on fourth down for an incompletion, seemingly ending the game.
But the officials ruled that play to be intentional grounding, a penalty. With no time left on the clock, the officiating crew then awarded Plainfield North one play, allowing the team to score a game-tying field goal.
In extra time both teams scored, but Plainfield North ran in a two-point conversion, setting off a wild celebration for the Tigers and eliciting anger and confusion from the Fenwick faithful.
Several hours after the game, the IHSA issued a statement that stated the officials erred when they gave Plainfield North one final play after the passing penalty.
But the IHSA cited bylaw 6.033, which states that "the decisions of game officials are final."
Craig Anderson, the IHSA's executive director, offered "my sincerest apologies" to the Fenwick coaches, players and fans. On Monday morning, the IHSA board of directors determined that the association's bylaws did not allow a review of Fenwick's appeal.
In the 41-page lawsuit filed Monday in Circuit Court, Fenwick's lawyers sought "a declaration to 'fix' a breach of contract by IHSA officials."
Fenwick wanted the judge to issue a temporary restraining order, declaring the game to have ended when the clock reached zero in the fourth quarter.
