Jericho High School has called off its varsity football season after just three games because injuries to senior players left the team unable to field a safe lineup. The decision came following a Friday night game when multiple seniors suffered season-ending injuries, according to Superintendent Dr. Robert Kravitz.
“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,” Kravitz said.
Head coach Brendan Lahti confirmed that several players had suffered season-ending injuries, depleting the roster significantly. About six seniors remained healthy and able to play, while the bulk of the squad consisted of underclassmen.
The cancellation makes Jericho the fourth Long Island high school to end its varsity football season early this year. Amityville, Port Jefferson, and Holy Trinity had previously canceled their seasons, with at least three of those decisions tied to player availability issues.
Ninth grader Garrett Duffalo, who had been training for months, expressed his disappointment. “I’m upset. I love playing football. I played it throughout my middle school career,” he said. Duffalo described the team’s summer conditioning efforts, aimed at compensating for their smaller size. “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 freshman, Nishant Pandit, acknowledged the disappointment but understood the safety concerns behind the cancellation. “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,” Pandit said. He added that with many seniors and a junior sidelined, the team lacked the numbers to compete against other schools.
Patrick Pizzarelli, executive director of Section VIII, which oversees high school sports in the region, said schools facing challenges in fielding teams might need to reassess local interest in football or explore combining with other schools. “The schools that are having trouble filling teams, I think they have to do a deep dive into their community and see if it is what the students really want. And if it’s only a few interested, they can combine with another school possibly,” Pizzarelli said.
New York state regulations require a minimum of 16 players suited up and 11 players on the field during a game, a threshold Jericho could no longer meet safely.
Superintendent Kravitz emphasized the district’s commitment to providing football opportunities in the future. “We don’t want the Jayhawks to fly away, we want to keep our Jayhawk players here and that is the goal,” he said.
Duffalo plans to return to the sport next season. “I want to keep playing, I love it,” he said.
Of the four Long Island schools that canceled varsity football this year, Jericho is among three that cited player availability as their reason. The issue reflects broader challenges facing high school football programs on Long Island.
According to Yahoo Sports.
