Football Team 1 Win From Playoffs But No One On Schedule

Highland Park is one victory away from qualifying for the state football playoffs, but it will not have an opportunity to win another game.

Due to a miscommunication between the school’s athletic director and coach, Friday’s game against Detroit Consortium was canceled, and no one scheduled a replacement game.

“There’s no way we can make the states (playoffs) with our point situation,” coach Cedric Dortch said. “We needed that last game.”

Dortch said he learned Monday that athletic director Paula Waterhouse agreed in June to release Detroit Consortium from its contract to play Highland Park.

The Parkers (4-3) already were short one game because they had an open date Oct. 1. To automatically qualify for the playoffs, a team must win six games — five if it plays an eight-game schedule.

Dortch said Highland Park could have played Toledo Central Catholic this week, but Waterhouse signed a contract with Consortium, which later asked to be let out of the contract.

“I didn’t know she had let them out,” Dortch said. “It was a situation where we actually had two ballgames — it was either or. She could have contracted either, but she didn’t follow up on the one in Toledo.”

Waterhouse said it was a miscommunication.

“I thought the coach had it covered, and he thought I had it covered,” she said. “I think we just didn’t talk about it, because we just assumed.”

When told Dortch said he wasn’t informed that Consortium was released from the contract, Waterhouse said: “I guess I’m the bad girl then, huh? Well, I’ll have no comment now. It was an oversight. No, not even an oversight — I thought it was covered.”

Waterhouse said Wednesday morning she was pursuing an opponent from another state. Later she learned that the Michigan High School Athletic Association has a Sept. 25 deadline for adding games to a schedule.

Highland Park’s best chance for an eighth opponent was in Week 6 when the Parkers and Birmingham Detroit Country Day had open dates. But Country Day coach Dan MacLean declined because, he said, Country Day and Highland Park would be in the same district.

Highland Park beat Country Day, 36-3, last season.

“Oh, no, they never called for Week 6,” Dortch said. “You know how it goes. It was just hard telling all the seniors they wouldn’t have an opportunity to compete.”