It appears the door has been left open for Laveen Cesar Chavez to possibly earn a football playoff spot if the Arizona Interscholastic Association Executive Board decides to rescind the school’s probationary status.

On Aug. 23, Cesar Chavez was placed on a one-year probation based on what was deemed by the Executive Board to be a recruiting violation.

At a meeting of the Executive Board on Oct. 18, school administrators and legal counsel were allowed to appeal the probation. The Executive Board decided that if the school turns paperwork listing corrective actions on the matter by Oct. 29, it could rescind the probation at a special session on Nov. 1.

The football regular season ends Nov. 2, so that would allow playoff bracketing to be updated should Cesar Chavez qualify. Entering this week’s (Oct.  22) games, Cesar Chavez has a 4-4 record and holds onto the 16^th and final spot in the Class 5A Division I power-points rating system used to determine playoff participants.

In related news, the programs at Class 3A Show Low and Class 1A Glendale Joy Christian were not punished for alleged infractions due to the self-reporting and corrective actions that were taken on the part of the schools.

Show Low’s infraction involved contact that Show Low High School Board President Paul Wyatt had made with the parents of football player Jordan Morgan. Young Morgan had left Chandler Valley Christian and was briefly with the program at Chandler High before moving to the White Mountains area. Morgan’s father, Bill, was the coach at Valley Christian and left after the 2009 season.

Bill Morgan also had been a former coach at Show Low and had become friends with Wyatt there.

Wyatt said he wasn’t re-establishing contact with the Morgans so that Jordan would play football for Show Low, only to help with setting up a residence. Jordan Morgan decided to attend nearby Lakeside Blue Ridge, which recently dealt with its own alleged recruiting violation in regard to Morgan. No recruitment was found, and Morgan was eligible to play after sitting out a few games.

Blue Ridge plays host to Show Low in a 3A East Region game on Friday night (Oct. 22).

Also, Scottsdale Chaparral will not have to forfeit games for using a “foreign’’ player early in the season who had not filed the proper paperwork to become eligible. The player no longer is a member of the team.

The Executive Board also tabled a situation regarding an alleged recruiting infraction by the football program at Phoenix St. Mary’s. The process will continue once more information is obtained and clarified.