Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2003 | 9:18 a.m.
The pads and pylons appeared for a couple of hours Monday night, but the Cheyenne football saga refuses to leave its courtroom incubator for too long.
Possibly as soon as this morning, the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association intended to turn to litigation in its continuing attempt to suspend the Desert Shields for one game and forfeit them out of the Sunset Region playoffs for their role in a Nov. 7 postgame fight with Bishop Gorman.
"Our plan is to try to get this heard as soon as possible and finalize the preliminary injunction," said Dr. Jerry Hughes, director of the NIAA. "That's the next step in the legal process."
Hughes doubted Tuesday night that NIAA legal counsel Paul Anderson would be able to secure a hearing today for a motion for reconsideration of a 15-day temporary restraining order allowing Cheyenne to remain in the playoffs, granted in Las Vegas by District Judge Jackie Glass.
Ross Goodman, who represents Cheyenne tailback David Peeples, heard otherwise.
"We haven't heard anything," Goodman said. "There is a lot of speculation that they'll file some sort of motion (today). We're taking a wait-and-see attitude."
So too is Hughes, who expects the case to end up in the Nevada Supreme Court before it is ultimately decided. If Glass turns down the reconsideration motion in District Court -- as is likely -- the NIAA can then appeal to the state Supreme Court by filing an emergency writ. A victory in District or Supreme Court would re-apply the NIAA suspension and forfeiture penalty to Cheyenne.
Hughes hopes that with more than the 15 minutes his organization had to prepare for Friday's hearing, the NIAA can provide a stronger case.
"We feel our rules do state that I had the authority to do what I did," Hughes said. "That's what we need to prove to the judge."
The NIAA issued its suspensions Thursday, only to watch Glass grant a temporary restraining order rebuffing the decision Friday, allowing Cheyenne to continue with its Sunset semifinal against Centennial. The Desert Shields won the rescheduled game Monday, 28-6, to advance to a Saturday afternoon region title tilt against Palo Verde, with a berth in the 4A State Tournament at stake.
Cheyenne could still be forfeited out of the playoffs before that contest, allowing the Panthers the walkover that Centennial thought it had for about 24 hours last week.
"I think everyone in the city is thinking, what's going on, what's going to happen next," Centennial coach Joel Bertsch said.
Glass issued the restraining order at the request of Peeples' mother, Deborah Johnson, who filed an emergency motion Friday morning of behalf of her son. The court decision held that the NIAA denied Peeples his due process rights, depriving him of a game at which college scouts would evaluate him.
Goodman, who has had "no substantive conversations" with NIAA officials since Friday, welcomed more legal wrangling.
"Any more exposure is going to further deny David Peeples his due process as well as violate their own rules," Goodman said.
Hughes reviewed tapes of the Cheyenne-Gorman fight last week and he said nine Cheyenne players were identified as active participants in the skirmish. Hughes decided on the team suspension in accordance with the NIAA's tough stance on fighting and sportsmanship, regardless of how many players became involved in instigating or retaliating.
"The Peeples kid is innocent, but the problem is that we had a brawl," Hughes said. "That's what we have to address."
Left to enforce its own discipline, Cheyenne suspended one player for his role in the fight. Another player was already ineligible after being ejected during the Gorman game. Cheyenne coach Dave Snyder did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday night.
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