Scheduling spat leaves Detroit football teams idle but still playoff eligible

The Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood high school football team entered the final week of the regular season expecting to play a home football game against Harper Woods Chandler Park Academy on Friday night.

That’s was news to Chandler Park Academy, which didn’t expect to play anyone.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the game between the two schools will not happen as a result of apparent miscommunication between Chandler Park Academy and the Catholic High School League, which Cranbrook-Kingswood competes in.

If they don’t play the final week of the season, both teams are eligible to make the playoffs as Cranbrook-Kingswood is 5-3 and Chandler Park Academy is 4-4.

If the two teams did play, a Cranbrook-Kingswood loss would endanger its playoff chances and a Chandler Park Academy loss would eliminate its tournament chances altogether.

According to MHSAA rules, teams with a 5-3 record on an eight-game schedule get an automatic bid to the state tournament, just as six-win teams do with a nine-game schedule. Chandler Park Academy does not automatically qualify but its 4-4 record makes it eligible for an at-large bid, which it is currently in line to receive based on playoff points.

However, both schools insist that they are not trying to avoid competition for the sake of playoff purposes. Both schools believe that their respective reasons are not at fault.

John Jergovich, the football coach and athletic director at Chandler Park, insisted he intentionally scheduled an eight-game season. He maintained he did not know about the game against Cranbrook-Kingswood until Monday. Jergovich said there was no agreement or contract signed for a Week 9 game against the Cranes, either.

“I told them we were only playing an eight-game schedule this year,” Jergovich said, adding “it was miscommunication” and that Chandler Park “didn’t have a game scheduled” on its end.

Vic Michaels, the director of the Catholic High School League, insisted there was a verbal agreement between him and Jergovich last school year.

Michaels said an understanding was reached that Chandler Park would be paid a sum of money to play Orchard Lake St. Mary’s in Week 3 and then play a team to be determined in Week 9. The teams in the CHSL’s Prep Bowl games in Week 9 are determined by records, so Michaels scheduled opponents for all potential outcomes.

Michaels said Chandler Park was slated to play the fourth-place finisher in the CHSL AA Division, which ended up being Cranbrook-Kingswood.

Chandler Park did travel to face St. Mary's in Week 3 and Jergovich said his program was paid $2,000 for it. Jergovich said he had no problem playing the game against St. Mary's without a contract because he has played against Catholic League teams many times without a contract agreement. Yet, he remained insistent that he was not informed of a Week 9 game -- a week he intended to keep as a bye week.

Michaels said he was surprised when he heard Chandler Park was not intending to play against Cranbrook-Kingswood.

"I was stunned," Michaels said. "In all the years we've been doing this Week 9 crossover stuff, I would say 90 percent of these games, we would do a verbal agreement because other schools are in the same boat as we are, looking for games."

Jergovich denied any knowledge of a Week 9 game ever being discussed.

"No, no, no," Jergovich said. "There was no contract. I knew nothing."

Jergovich shared a text message exchange with MLive between him and CHSL associate director Mike Evoy from March 13, which showed Jergovich asking, “which weeks are my football games with you?” Evoy replied St. Mary’s was the scheduled opponent for Week 3 with no mention of a Week 9 game.

Evoy told MLive that the texts in question were not in full context and Week 9 had been discussed with Jergovich.

Evoy said he told Jergovich if he scheduled Chandler Park vs. St. Mary’s in Week 3, he would also schedule a Week 9 game with either the fourth or fifth-place CHSL AA Division team.

"That's how it went," Evoy said. "The only question was if it was going to be four or five from the AA … I don't recall that text. That doesn't mean it didn't happen. Replying Week 3 meant St. Mary's because Week 9 was the crossover we already discussed … It was a verbal agreement.

“We had talked about it. Me saying Week 3 was which date he was going to play St. Mary’s because that was the question. There was never a question about the Week 9. He even acknowledged it in the text message, right? ‘Weeks’ and ‘games.’”

Evoy said there were other phone conversations and text messages on the topic but Jergovich disagreed.

"I don't know what the miscommunication was, but I was under the assumption Week 3 at Orchard Lake," Jergovich said. "That was it."

In retrospect, Michaels admits he should have made an official contract with Chandler Park Academy.

"I learned a valuable lesson here, but we've worked with Chandler Park for a number of years under the same situation," Michaels said. "In the future, I know I'm going to get contracts from every Week 9 opponent that we schedule."

Cranbrook-Kingswood athletic director Stephen Graf said that they had every intention of playing Chandler Park and that Cranes coach Ben Jones was preparing his players to play.

"We practiced yesterday with the thought there was a remote chance we would still play the game," Graf said. "Our goal was to play the football game."

Jergovich said this is the third time he has scheduled a season with less than nine games. Last year, Chandler Park Academy played only played seven games, including a Week 9 bye, but finished 3-4 and missed the playoffs.

"I only have 25 kids on my team," Jergovich said. "I like to have a week off and try to heal up before playoffs."

The MHSAA is the governing body of high school sports competition in the state, but it does not intend to intervene because there is no official contract to reference.

"Absent a written contract, there's nothing in the handbook that we can apply," said John Johnson, the MHSAA's director of broadcast properties.

If there was a contract, the party wanting out would have to forfeit.

“If there’s a written contract, we have a role,” Johnson said. “If there’s not a written contract, let the buyer beware.”

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