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Apalachicola Forfeits Football Season
APALACHICOLA, Fla. - An empty locker room. Shoulder pads stacked on one another instead of protecting young athletes and laundry that’s unusually clean will have to wait another year.
Football season is just getting started, but Apalachicola High School already has a 10-game losing streak.
Last Thursday, school officials decided to “pull the plug” on the varsity football team for not having enough players.
“Eleven is the most I’ve had eligible to practice,” Athletic Director Mike Todd said. “Sometimes I’d have 15 or 16, but they’re G.P.A.’s were not high, or they didn’t have a current physical.”
“I’m mad,” football player Keith Floyd said. “I wanted to play football, but couldn’t force people to come out.”
The principle of Apalachicola, Nick O’Grady, stayed in constant contact with Coach Todd hoping the season could be saved.
“I took attendance everyday, which is unheard-of,” Todd said. “I made all the players intial what time they were there, then I would turn in the numbers.”
Before Friday’s scheduled game against John Paul II, the superintendent, Principle O’Grady, and Coach Todd decided fielding a football team would not work.
“If you’re not in shape to take that pounding every Friday night, playing 48 minutes constantly, this would have been super ironman football,” Todd said. “It wouldn’t have been ironman, just our 11 against everybody. That was the biggest issue.”
This was supposed to be a big time year for the Sharks. The team lost only two seniors from last years team and it was scheduled to play six home games. But football was not a priority.
“This is a low social economic area, so some kids have to work and I understand that,” Todd said. “I scheduled practice at 7 a.m., 6 p.m. and 3:30 afterschool and we still couldn’t get the numbers.”
“People say they would come,” Floyd said. “But everybody wouldn’t show up at one time.”
Coach Todd isn’t getting down on himself. He’s already making plans for next season when Apalachicola and Carrabelle High School will consolidate grades 9-12 and have one football team.
Posted by on 08/30 at 07:08 PM------------------------
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