The first week of the Section 1 high school football season exacted a toll on three programs who came into their openers with limited rosters, forcing Haldane, Croton and Briarcliff/Hamilton to cancel this week's games.
All three will go down as forfeits unless their scheduled opponents find another game.
Croton didn't even make it to the second half of a 23-0 loss to Hen Hud on Friday. While the Tigers had 17 healthy and eligible players at kickoff, they lost three starters to injury during the first half and had two additional players came to practice Saturday on crutches, according to Croton-Harmon athletic director Bari Suman.
Teams must have a minimum of 16 players to compete in a game. The Tigers were scheduled to play Valhalla and are hoping
to have enough eligible players to play Irvington on Sept. 19.
Numbers were an issue for Croton last season, as well. The Tigers were supposed to be part of the developmental Hudson Valley League, but were unable to maintain the mandated roster minimum and forfeited the remainder of the season in early October.
Haldane is forfeiting to rival Tuckahoe. The schools are the only Class D teams in Section 1 and meet every fall in the championship game. The Blue Devils fell last week 40-0 to James I. O'Neill and are next schedule to play Sept. 18 against Albertus Magnus.
Briarcliff/Hamilton on Friday took on Greeley, a Class A team playing in the new ability based league, and fell 24-12. The Bears were scheduled to play at Class B contender Pearl River this week.
"We've been hit pretty hard by injuries and the short week didn't help," said Bears athletic director Chris Drosopoulos, who noted the roster has 19 healthy players, including four freshmen. "In theory we have the numbers, but we can't put some of those kids out there against Pearl River. We probably would've stopped the game at halftime and probably would've been knocked out the following week, too, had we played."
Briarcliff/Hamilton is scheduled to face another strong Class B team, Pelham, on Sept. 18.
The Bears did offer to reschedule with Pearl River later in the season, but Drosopoulos understands that's not likely to happen.
Hastings forfeited its opener last weekend against Dobbs Ferry, due to a lack of eligible players. The Yellow Jackets have regrouped and are ready to play Edgemont/Blind Brook this week, according to athletic director Drew Wendol.
Declining participation has been an issue this season across the state. Cambridge/Salem (Section 2) Hoosic Valley (Section 2), Port Jefferson (Section 11) and Amityville (Section 11) have already cancelled their seasons.
Five other teams from Section 2 dropped to eight-man football and four teams from Sections 4, 5 and 7 were forced to merge ahead of the season.
"I've never seen this in my time here," Drosopoulos added. "Unfortunately, the football numbers in New York aren't as robust as they once were."
Mike Dougherty covers high school football for The Journal News/lohud.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: 3 HS football games this week forfeited due to lack of healthy players
