Delvin Wood and the rest of the Millbrook football team getting loose before the Section 9 Class C title game.
Well, at least this time they weren’t blindsided by the news.
The Millbrook High School football team learned this week that it will receive a forfeit victory as its game against Fallsburg on Friday was cancelled. The contest was to have served as the highlight of Millbrook’s homecoming weekend.
“Unfortunately, this is something we’re getting used to,” Blazers coach Sean Keenan said. “The school is pushing back homecoming, but it’s one less game our kids get to play.”
Fallsburg, a small Class C school, saw its active roster dip beneath the state requirement of 16 healthy players and is cancelling the remainder of its season. The Comets suffered a rash of injuries and had a few players quit the team, leaving them shorthanded, Keenan said.
Last October, Eldred forfeit its game against the Blazers, which was to have been Millbrook’s Senior Night. Then, Keenan said, his team received short notice.
“(The players) were disappointed when they found out,” Keenan said of his team this week. “But they’ve put it behind them and we’re ready to move on.”
Livingston Manor and Onteora are Section 9 teams that also have scrapped football seasons in recent years. With lower enrollment often comes thin athletic rosters, leaving open the possibility of forfeits due to injuries.
The Blazers (2-3), coming off a 42-12 loss to Dobbs Ferry, will visit Chester at 7 p.m. on Oct. 7. Millbrook improves to 2-0 in its league.
“We’re giving (our players) Friday and Saturday off,” Keenan said, “then we’ll start preparing early for Chester.”
Stephen Haynes: shaynes@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4826, Twitter: @StephenHaynes4
Millbrook High School’s Delvin Wood makes a move around a Sullivan West defender in a Millbrook win earlier this season