By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
MENDON — A confluence of conflicts between both Mendon and Grand Rapids Sacred Heart Academy led to Sacred Heart’s MHSAA eight-man Division 2 football team forfeiting their first-round playoff matchup against the Hornets that was scheduled for this week.
On Thursday, it was announced that Sacred Heart, the sixth-ranked Division 2 team in the state, would be forfeiting the first-round playoff matchup between them and Mendon, the top-ranked Division 2 team in the state, which would have taken place Saturday, Nov. 1 at 1 p.m.
The Saturday afternoon contest would interfere with All Saints Day, a holy day of obligation on the Catholic calendar, which honors saints both known and unknown. That holiday was one of the main conflicts in the situation, and according to a statement Thursday from Sacred Heart Parish Priest Fr. Ron Floyd, “our community does not play” athletic events on All Saints Day.
Mendon Superintendent Leasa Griffith-Mathews told the Commercial-News in an interview Thursday the district had been in contact with Sacred Heart officials throughout the week trying to set up a game day and time, but that ultimately said a Friday night game would not work for Mendon for a couple of reasons.
One of those reasons, Griffith-Mathews said, was a tradition the school has of playing Saturday afternoon home games in the state playoffs, as well as concerns about police coverage for the game due to Halloween. She said police officials preferred the team not play on Friday night because of the Halloween considerations. Mendon’s trick-or-treating times run from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Friday, while a football game on Friday would’ve likely kicked off at 7 p.m.
Griffith-Mathews said because of the conflicts of trying to set up the date and time for the game, they opted to let the MHSAA schedule the game for them, which led to MHSAA defaulting to a 1 p.m. start time on Saturday, in line with their rules.
MHSAA Director of Communications Geoff Kimmerly said in a statement Thursday that when competing schools are farther than 75 miles apart and the schools cannot agree on a date and time, then the game “must be played at 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon.” According to Google Maps, the quickest route between Sacred Heart Academy and Mendon High School is 78.4 miles.
In an interview with MLive Thursday, Griffith-Mathews said it was “unfortunate” that it came to Sacred Heart having to forfeit.
“Our kids wanted to play, and our coaches wanted to play, as I would think theirs would as well. This may have been our last home game for our seniors, depending on how the playoffs pan out,” Griffith-Mathews said to MLive.
In his statement to the Commercial-News Thursday, Floyd, the parish priest at Sacred Heart, said they were “hopeful” that the two sides could have come to an agreement after having conversations earlier in the week to discuss scheduling the game, but ultimately said Mendon “rebuffed any consideration of playing on any day except Saturday,” adding Mendon gave “no reason” for their position.
“As a parish school, this put us in a difficult position. We made a commitment long ago, as a parish of which Sacred Heart Academy is an integral part, not to schedule other activities on All Saints Day. A large portion of the team thought we should forfeit the game,” Floyd said. “We are saddened that our season will end in this manner. We are incredibly proud of our young men and their accomplishments this season.”
With the forfeit, Mendon (10-0) will play in the regional finals against the winner of the regional semifinal matchup between Marion and Portland St. Patrick, which will take place Saturday at 5 p.m. at Portland St. Patrick. A date, time and location for the regional final is yet to be determined.
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
