courtesy of the Beacon-News
There was a buzz on the message boards, in school hallways and on social networking web sites.
Suddenly, Sandwich High School had one of the best baseball players in the state walking its halls. The rumors as to why, and how, Matt Morse was there had already mushroomed to mythic proportions.
"At first there were a lot of rumors going around that weren't true -- everything that you could imagine people were saying because obviously people love to tell a story and the next person has got to exaggerate on that," he said.
Simply, Morse was expelled from Aurora Christian on Thursday, Jan. 14 following a school investigation into a New Year's Eve party he threw at his Sandwich home. Yet the reasons behind that decision have continued to perplex the senior and his family.
"It's unfortunate that he would get expelled on what I think is rumors and hearsay," said Matt's father, John. "He was never accused of drinking, anywhere. No one ever accused him of that. That's what everybody thinks with the zero tolerance (policy at Aurora Christian). It's tough stuff. Zero tolerance, I agree with that one hundred percent. But this didn't have anything to do with zero tolerance. He had zero to do with it."
About 60 friends from Aurora Christian, Sandwich and Plano high schools, as well as members of his travel baseball team, were invited to Morse's supervised party.
"I know I have a lot to lose," Matt said. "So I made sure it was an alcohol-free party so there were no problems. I thought everything went well."
After the New Year, Morse attended a senior trip at Aurora Christian from Jan. 2-8. Upon returning to school on Monday, Jan. 11 he was called into the dean's office where he was told school officials had heard of alcohol use at his party. Morse denied the rumors.
"I was like, my parents were there, you can ask anyone who was (that) there were no problems," he said. "I made sure to tell people there would be no alcohol so there would be no problems. (They) said we have to do an investigation here because we have some evidence there was possibly some alcohol use at your house. I said fine, do whatever you want. I wasn't drinking, I don't drink and I have nothing to worry about and told him everything was fine."
Matt Morse said throughout the week he and other ACS students were questioned about whether there was alcohol at the party and he said each time he and the other students denied that was the case. Morse said he later found out five ACS students had been drinking prior to arriving to his house, and after admitting that fact those students were expelled. Morse said those students maintained they had not been drinking at his party.
On Jan. 14 John Morse was called to ACS and told his son was going to be expelled from the school for what the Morse's say was "hindering an investigation." Morse said another varsity baseball player was expelled as well for his role as a co-host of the party.
"(My dad) comes over and he's like 'You're no longer going to school there since you were supposedly hindering their investigation as the host of the party that they're going ask you to leave,'" Matt Morse said. "That was pretty shocking because I didn't do anything but make sure the party went well. I kind of laughed about it, like 'Are you kidding me?' It was ridiculous."
ACS officials told John text messages and other evidence existed that proved his son was lying about the presence and use of alcohol at the party, and that his son also was attempting to coerce others into lying for him.
John Morse asked if the decision could be appealed, or the evidence reviewed, but was told no.
Aurora Christian had no comment.
"The way they went about it really wasn't very good and their investigation wasn't done the right way," Matt said.
Matt then enrolled at Sandwich, a public high school, on Jan. 15.
Afterward, John Morse drove his son to the law firm FL Hunter & Associates in Aurora.
"Where are we going?" Matt asked.
"To take a polygraph," John replied.
"What's that?" Matt said.
His father explained he was going to be interviewed to see if he had been lying about the party -- or ever lied -- to ACS officials.
Matt fell asleep on the way.
According to a document reviewed by The Beacon-News, Morse passed the polygraph.
John Morse said he submitted that same document to ACS, but on Jan. 20 his son's expulsion was held up.
"I was really surprised that they didn't even consider anything with the polygraph exam," John Morse said. "We proved that he didn't know if people brought anything, he didn't know what was going on afterwards and he didn't cover it up. Those are just the ones the (ACS) accused him of. (The polygraph administrator) asked him if at anytime at ACS had he ever lied to anyone in the administration and he said 'No.' That was the million dollar question."
Regardless of the lengths the Morse's went to keep their son at ACS, he is now at Sandwich. And that leads to perhaps biggest question of them all -- can he play this spring?
The Morse's say Sandwich officials called Illinois High School Association executive director Dr. Marty Hickman shortly after Morse enrolled, and were given an indication that he would be able to.
Through a spokesman, Hickman confirmed that he did speak to an official at Sandwich but no official decision was made then.
Sandwich has since submitted Morse's case to the IHSA for review, and a decision on his eligibility is expected in the next week.
Both the Morse's and Sandwich officials feel he will be able to play.
"I think everything should work out all right," said a Sandwich administrator.
Morse, who is a Sandwich resident, had a built in support system at the school. Family members work there and many Sandwich students have been friends of his for years.
"Things happen and everything happens for a reason and there's nothing I can do about it," he said. "I'm going to try to use it to make a difference over at Sandwich with some kids that I've been friends with for a long time that I haven't gotten to spend too much time with lately. It's actually been a lot of fun and a good experience for me and I'm looking forward to playing with the kids at Sandwich this spring."
Another, larger issue at stake for Morse was his full scholarship to play baseball at the University of Alabama-Birmingham next year. It is rare for players to get a full ride in a non-revenue generating sport like baseball, and Morse wanted to make sure of his status. He immediately called his future coaches and explained what happened.
"The situation has not affected his scholarship in any way," a UAB spokesman said. "And the (coaches) are looking forward to having him on campus in the fall."
Due to the silence coming from ACS, there is still much left unknown surrounding Morse's inglorious departure from ACS, where he helped lead the Eagles to the 2008 Class 3A state football championship game and then the 2009 baseball super-sectional. The final word may come from the IHSA soon, but should they rule Morse ineligible, the story may linger on.
"We probably would have to think about what would happen. If he loses the ability to play baseball it would put a whole other light on the situation," John Morse said. "I think it was all taken care of and when the official thing comes up this week or not, they said early on that it would be no problem and he would be able to play."