East Ridge football player puts court case on hold after team's loss

Suspended East Ridge athlete Marco Cavallaro's chances to get back on the football field ended after his teammates lost their game Friday night against Eastview, knocking the Raptors out of the Class 6A playoffs.

Cavallaro, a senior, was serving the second of a four-game suspension stemming from a hit he delivered in an Oct. 17 game against Centennial. He and his parents were in court last Wednesday as the family's lawyer sought to convince a Hennepin County judge to restore his eligibility and let them appeal what they contend is a lack of due process by the Minnesota State High School League.

While they held out hope that the judge would rule before Friday's game, that didn't happen. Attorney James Smith said Monday that the family is "reevaluating options'' and that his motion in court "has been placed on hold.''

Marco Cavallaro, who also wrestles for East Ridge, is contemplating finishing his suspension by missing his first two wrestling meets rather "than risk missing the same later in the season,'' Smith said in an e-mail.

His suspension followed his ejection from the Centennial game after drawing a penalty for targeting, a hit aimed above the shoulders. He had been suspended earlier in the season for another play, which led to the four-game suspension called for by high school league bylaws.

Smith argued that Cavallaro was denied due process by the league despite video evidence showing that the hit on Oct. 17, according to the Cavallaros, was not targeting.

The league's bylaw language states, "The decisions of contest officials are final," and not subject to appeal.