Aggravated is not quite the right word for what I was feeling last week after meeting East St. John quarterback Marquise Darensbourg and speaking to his coach, father and high school principal about the situation he finds himself in: facing a year suspension from high school football. Maybe disappointed is more accurate.

Darensbourg appears to be an unfortunate casualty of the influence of adult politics taking precedence over a young man’s football career.

The East St. John High School administration refused to provide L’OBSERVATEUR with the results of the investigation, and Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA) executive director Eddie Bonine, who made the decision to suspend Darensbourg for the upcoming year, said he was disallowed from releasing the report.

That is a problem in itself and leads to questions about the details behind Darensbourg’s suspension and why those with a vested interest wish not to have the details known, as well as the actual reason why Darensbourg was investigated to begin with.

What we do know is an anonymous source tipped off the LHSAA that Darensbourg was transferring from Destrehan to East St. John only a few months after leading them to a 14-0 record before being benched in the state championship game versus Acadiana, which Destrehan lost 23-7.

According to some accounts Darensbourg made some unwise comments to a Times-Picayune reporter via Twitter about having a choice between what school he would play for in 2015 before settling on East St. John. Perhaps this detail was cherry picked for dissemination by those who would not like to see Darensbourg ultimately suit up for East St. John this fall. And it is very likely Darensbourg was flagged for investigation and implicated in the “scheme” to play football for East St. John only because ESJ is a district opponent of Destrehan’s.

That is beside the point.

As a teenager Darensbourg’s statements, whether taken out of context or not, really should not hold that much weight. While exulted by many for his athletic ability, he is still just a kid after all and is prone to making mistakes…not that adults are that much better. We only need to look at the hacking scandal in 2013 that saw a group of Darensburg’s former coaches at Destrehan improperly log in to then district rival South Lafourche’s computer playbook in preparation for their game. For that offense, Destrehan’s win over South Lafourche was vacated, five coaches were suspended for the rest of the regular season and later pled guilty to criminal charges. Many of those coaches are still at Destrehan by the way.

In my opinion, that is an offense much worse than simply moving back home with your father. In a football-obsessed culture like Southeast Louisiana it is understandable that some might consider Darenbourg’s punishment just. Is there evidence Darensbourg’s move was at least in part determined by his potential to play? Yes. Going into 2015 Darensbourg likely had a tough competition ahead of him with Kohen Granier, who in his absence was named Destrehan’s starter for 2015.

But so what? According to all accounts Darensbourg had already been living in LaPlace with his father for months prior to transferring from Destrehan to East St. John, as well as for years before when he attended Riverside Academy, and before the investigation was opened to determine if switching schools was an “athletic move,” which Bonine ultimately agreed it was.

In all of this an unsettling undercurrent of winning at all costs appears to be popping up and the real issue, Darensbourg, not as an athlete, but as a kid who is only trying to be a kid and enjoy the last few years of high school he has left, seems to be lost.

One can only hope that when the LHSAA’s appeals ruling comes down on Darensbourg’s eligibility Sept. 3, only a day prior to the Wildcats season opener, they will take that into account and lay the politics aside.

Kyle Barnett can be reached by phone at 985-652-9545 or email at kyle.barnett@lobservateur.com.