.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
What do you get when you mix teens, the Internet, the football hotbed of Louisiana and a burning desire to win football games? Apparently, one ugly cheating scandal.
According to multiple reports, the Louisiana High School Athletic Association is investigating Destrehan High to determine if its football team cheated through improper use of a web site. And later on Wednesday, it was reported five people have been charged after admitting their part in the scandal.
In essence, Destrehan (8-0 and the No. 5 team in Class 5A) is alleged to have obtained a rival school's username and password for the web site Hudl.com, which houses game and practice films along with schemes and playbooks for various teams. According to The Shreveport Times, Destrehan’s staff spent 12 hours looking at South LaFourche High's database. The kicker in the case? The alleged source of the username and password was a player from South LaFourche itself.
“We’ve never dealt with anything like this before,” LHSAA executive director Kenny Henderson told The Times on Tuesday.
When the two teams squared off, Destrehan won 49-24. Destrehan is located along the Mississippi River, 20 miles west of New Orleans. On Wednesday, FOX 8 in New Orleans reported that Destrehan was forced to forfeit the game to Lafourche.
FOX 8 also reported that Destrehan assistant football coaches Wayne Sentilles, 32, Daniel Laquet, 30, and Greg Boyne, 41, each admitted to accessing the web site to gain information on the South Lafourche game plan prior to the game, according to Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre. And another assistant coach, Ryan Fournier, 29, and girlfriend Emily Guidry, 29, were reportedly charged with the same offense earlier Wednesday.
According to FOX 8, all five people are charged with offenses against intellectual property, and each was issued a criminal summons. The maximum penalties reportedly include a $500 fine, six months in prison or both.
“We’ve never dealt with anything like this before,” LHSAA executive director Kenny Henderson told The Times on Tuesday. ”We’re doing an investigation and I can’t tell you more than that because it’s an ongoing investigation and, honestly, I just don’t know what to tell you.”
