COLDWATER — High school running back Cameron Torres did not play for the Coldwater Cardinals or Marshall Redhawks during his 2022 senior season.
Instead, he was a Wildcat in the highly competitive Miami-Dade County Florida area.
The talented player sued to try to transfer football programs in August. CHS principal Bill Milnes refused to sign the Education Transfer Form for Torres to play football and track for Marshall, claiming the move was "athletically motivated."
Circuit Judge Bill O’Grady denied a request to order Coldwater to allow the transfer in August, but did not rule on various civil rights violation claims filed by Torres.
At a stalemate in Branch County Circuit Court, the case was quietly dismissed in November at Torres' request.
Coldwater schools' attorney Travis Comstock moved to dismiss the suit because the issues were moot due to the running back's voluntary transfer to Westland Hialeah Senior High School in Miami-Dade County for the fall season.
In the mutual stipulation, Coldwater High School and its employees denied any “inappropriate contact, agree to stay out of (Torres’) affairs for future endeavors in school/college regarding any sports endeavors unless contacted by a recruiter seeking specific information related to” Torres.
Prior storyColdwater running back sues to play football as a transfer to Marshall
The Torres family said Cameron was moving to Marshall with his mother and should be allowed to transfer.
Comstock said in the initial hearing it was well known Torres has an aspiration for a college football scholarship. The school said Torres attended football camps at the University of Florida and Wisconsin. He also attended camps at Florida State and in Missouri, according to MaxPreps recruiting website.
Coldwater pointed out in the lawsuit that the 2022 football team was not expected to be very good with the loss of much of its offensive line. The team finished 1-8.
Marshall was expected to be better. It finished 4-5 for the season.
The Florida Division 2 school he transferred to play for in southwest Dade County, Westland Hialeah, did not do much better. It finished the season 4-6 among the smaller schools with less than 1,400 students.
Torres scored 5 touchdowns, averaging 16.5 yards per carry in 49 carries for the team in six games. The 5-foot, 11-inch, 198-pound back averaged 134.7 yards per game, totaling 808 for the season. He returned one kickoff for 33 yards.
Torres was not listed in any early recruiting signees last week.
Calls to Torres's recruiting telephone number were not returned. Westland Hialeah athletic staff was not available over the holiday vacation.
Torres challenged the COVID-19 quarantine last fall, which would have kept him from playing against Marshall, where college scouts planned to attend.
Torres lost a court challenge to the COVID-19 quarantine in fall 2021, which canceled the game against Marshall. He wanted the game played because college scouts planned to attend.
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Before filing the suit to try to force the transfer to Marshall, his mother took a job in Marshall, signed a lease for an apartment, and they registered to vote in Marshall.
The family’s Bishop Street house was put up for sale, and a contract was signed. The school called the sale a sham to two of the mother's business associates. The deal never did close, according to public records.
— Contact Don Reid: dReid@Gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DReidTDR.