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MIDDLETOWN — Middletown High School football coach Jason Krause plans to continue working as if Caleb Watkins will be his quarterback when the 2008 season begins.

Watkins has been ruled ineligible for the upcoming 2008 season by the Ohio High School Athletic Association, but Krause said his understanding is that Watkins is "good to go."

"He is our quarterback as far as I'm concerned," Krause said Tuesday, June 17. "But we have to be prepared, because you never know when something might happen, be it an injury or whatever, so we've had all our guys getting reps in practice."

The Middies had three days of minicamp practice in the last two weeks. Krause said Kevin Watts and Watkins have shared time under center.

Watkins led the Greater Miami Conference with 2,045 passing yards and 26 touchdowns last season.

"I'll keep repping them the same way until I find out something different," said Krause, adding that the Middies next minicamp day is set for July 8. "It's one of those things I'm not going to worry about until I have a definite answer, but I'm confident that nothing wrong has been done here."

OHSAA Assistant Commissioner Debbie Moore said Tuesday that Watkins was "ruled ineligible for one year due to falsification of information that was used to establish a bona fide residence in violation of Bylaw 4-7-2 Exception 1."

Watkins, who will be a junior this fall, transferred from Edgewood to Middletown before the 2007-08 school year.

Moore said the Watkins family appealed the ruling June 12, and the OHSAA tabled the appeal "pending a request for additional information" until August. The OHSAA board of directors meets again Aug. 7.

"The state asked me (in an e-mail) to clarify some things on Monday (June 16), and I did that," MHS Principal Dennis Newell said, adding that he believes Watkins is eligible for summer activities with the team. "We did everything a school is required to do by law, and I feel we went above what is required to make sure we were in compliance. We are very satisfied that we met their standards."

Moore said the OHSAA has been investigating the Watkins case, along with several others involving a school district north of Dayton, since the early part of the 2007-08 school year. The OHSAA hired an investigator to look into the residences of a number of students, she said. Recruiting allegations are still under investigation in several of the cases, she said, but Moore did not specify which ones.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2852 or sweaver@coxohio.com.