Jericho High School’s varsity football season just got canceled, only three games in, because injuries have left the team without enough healthy players to safely keep going. This isn’t just a one-off thing, either; Jericho is the fourth Long Island school to pull the plug on its varsity football season this year, joining Amityville, Port Jefferson, and Holy Trinity. It’s a brutal gut punch for everyone involved, especially the kids who poured their hearts into it.
The Injuries That Tanked the Season
Superintendent Dr. Robert Kravitz confirmed the decision came right after players got hurt during a Friday night game. He was straight up about it: “Some of our senior students got hurt. Because of that, we don’t want to risk the safety of our younger students, putting them up against bigger students from other schools, so we decided to cancel the season this year.” Head varsity coach Brendan Lahti backed that up, saying the team had “multiple players that had season-ending injuries.” Think about that, man, season-ending injuries just three games in! It’s insane. Kravitz said only about six seniors who were actually ready to play remained on the team, with most of the other players being underclassmen. You just can’t field a safe, competitive team with those numbers.
“I Love Playing Football”: Players Are Heartbroken
This cancellation is just devastating for the kids who’ve been grinding for months. Ninth grader Garrett Duffalo, clearly heartbroken, said, “I’m upset. I love playing football. I played it throughout my middle school career.” And it wasn’t just showing up; these guys put in work. Duffalo added, “All summer we were doing conditioning because we all knew we weren’t the biggest team, so we were going to go out there and fight for the four quarters we could.” Another ninth grader, Nishant Pandit, totally gets the safety call, but you can feel his disappointment: “I’m really upset because I wanted to play football this year, but in the end it’s for the best because we didn’t want the seniors hurt.” This isn’t just a game to these kids, it’s a huge part of their lives. Coach Lahti summed it up perfectly, saying he’d “love to have a lot more people out here that can play, but we have a limited number and with most of our seniors and a junior out we just couldn’t take on other schools.”
What’s Next for the Jayhawks?
So, what happens now? Patrick Pizzarelli, executive director of Section VIII, mentioned that schools struggling to field teams might need to really look at community interest and think about alternatives, like possibly combining with another school. In New York state, a team needs a minimum of 16 suited players and 11 players on the field during a game. Jericho was clearly way below that. The good news is Jericho officials are already exploring options because they want students to have the chance to play football in the future. Kravitz put it best: “We don’t want the Jayhawks to fly away, we want to keep our Jayhawk players here and that is the goal.” Duffalo is right there with him, hoping to get back on the field, saying, “I want to keep playing, I love it.” It’s a rough end to the season, but hopefully, they figure out a way to keep this program flying high for these kids.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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