Jenkintown’s decision to end its 2026 high school football season early due to concerns about player safety directly affects three Bucks County schools.
The Drakes were scheduled to face New Hope-Solebury on Oct. 16, Morrisville on Oct. 23 and Bristol on Oct. 31.
New Hope (2-2) was able to schedule a home date with Columbia Montour Vo-Tech (0-5) from Bloomsburg on senior night to replace Jenkintown. The Lions will visit Columbia Montour in 2027.
“We had an idea (Jenkintown was) going to do this before the season started, so we had something worked out as a contingency plan,” said NH-S head coach Dale Smith.
Morrisville (3-1) will host Council Rock North (0-4) on the same date for senior night. CR North had an open date because Cheltenham’s season
was canceled due to two hazing incidents.
“We knew Jenkintown was struggling with numbers throughout this year, so we had an eye on a few teams that had that date open,” said Bulldogs head coach Corey Keen.
Bristol (1-3) head coach Mike Ciotti said he hadn’t yet looked into a replacement for Jenkintown.
Morrisville is the defending District One Class A champion and Bristol defeated New Hope for the Class AA title. Jenkintown is a Class A (smallest enrollment) school.
If Bristol cannot find somebody to take Jenkintown’s place, the Warriors’ district playoff ranking would be based on nine games rather than the customary 10.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Jenkintown ending football season impacts three Bucks County schools
