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MANSFIELD - In what is likely the end of a long process that has stretched from the football field to the courtroom, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association has ruled that the Mansfield High School football team must forfeit two games in which it used an ineligible player and placed the school on probation for one year.

Other sanctions in the stinging rebuke include calling upon the school to punish head coach Mike Redding and refund legal costs incurred by the MIAA.

School officials say they were caught off guard by the severity of the MIAA reprimand.

The MIAA, in a letter sent to Mansfield High Principal Joseph Maruszczak, said it will "sustain the forfeit of two games" in which the school used an ineligible, fifth-year player.

The forfeitures mean the team will lose its Hockomock League title and be forced to return its Super Bowl runner-up trophy. North Attleboro High School will be the new Hockomock League champion. On Tuesday, Redding said he was disappointed with the decision, saying he wanted his players to get the recognition they deserved.

"They worked very hard," he said. "We didn't want to see them lose out on a technicality."

The controversy began when Mansfield determined that the player in question was enrolled in his fifth calendar year of high school. According to MIAA rules, any fifth-year student wishing to play a sport must receive a waiver, which the Mansfield player never did.

School officials have said they used football as a way to get the student, who had previously dropped out, to return to school.

In December, after Mansfield self-reported the violation, the MIAA ruled that the team had to forfeit the two games in which the student played. The school sought - and received - a temporary restraining order against the ruling that allowed the team to continue playing. The court ordered the MIAA to convene a subcommittee to hear Mansfield's appeal before issuing a final ruling.

The MIAA held an appeal hearing on Dec. 18 to allow Mansfield to present its case. Maruszczak, Redding and Athletic Director Patrick Burns attended the hearing and spoke on the school's behalf, saying the issue was "an honest oversight."

According to the letter, Maruszczak must send "letters of forfeiture" to the principals of Oliver Ames High School and Sharon High School, the two schools Mansfield defeated while using the ineligible player.

The entire Mansfield athletic department will be on probation for one year and officials must develop a better process to determine eligibility within 90 days, according to the letter.

Maruszczak must also punish Redding, whom the MIAA said took too long in reporting the violation. If the school's penalties do not satisfy the organization, the MIAA will step in and issue its own punishment for what it calls Redding's "continued disregard for MIAA rules and policies," the letter said.

Redding was disciplined by the MIAA in February after excessively arguing with officials during a playoff game in 2007. He was ordered to attend a sportsmanship compliance workshop, apologize to the game officials in writing and write an evaluation of his sideline behavior. Redding said he did not agree with the characterization and that he has worked hard to enforce the rules of the school and the MIAA throughout his 21 years of coaching.

"The (previous) incident was not a rule violation, and I self-reported this violation," he said. "I'm really not sure how that is disregarding the rules."

The MIAA is also ordering the school to pay the organization's legal fees incurred during the injunction proceedings, citing a rule that allows the MIAA to recoup legal fees if a school unsuccessfully sues the organization.

Michael Trowbridge, chairman of the school committee, said that while he had expected the MIAA to enforce the forfeitures, he did not expect the other penalties to be levied.

"Deep down I felt they would uphold (the forfeitures)," he said. "But that's all I thought the outcome was going to be."

Trowbridge said school officials will sit down in the next few days to review the MIAA's ruling before deciding how to proceed. He said the school has already begun developing a plan to prevent a similar situation from developing in the future.

Redding said althougth he was disappointed with the ruling, he was proud of the way the student athletes handled themselves throughout the process.

"The young men on the team handled themselves with a lot of maturity," he said. "I'm very proud of the way our students handled themselves."

MATT KAKLEY covers Mansfield for The Sun Chronicle. He can be reached at 508-236-0333 or at mkakley@thesunchronicle.com.