CROMWELL >> Cromwell/Portland football coach Chris Eckert confirmed via email Friday morning that Coventry/Windham Tech/Bolton has forfeited its game to Eckert’s team that was scheduled to be played at Coventry.
Eckert said that Coventry could not field a team because of “low numbers” of players. He said Coventry told him they had 23 players available.
Originally Eckert reported to The Press that the CIAC had approved moving the game until next weekend as both teams had an open date. However, Eckert Thursday expressed surprise with that action, saying it was his impression that in those circumstances, the usual result was a forfeit.
That forfeit was made official Friday. With the forfeit win, the Panthers are now 3-1.
wait Conventry/Windham tech/ Bolton didn’t have enough kids to field a team 4 wks in????? HOW!! that’s 3 different schools pulling together. isn’t that the reason for a co-op to pull from other schools to have the numbers.
It’s because most students aren’t man enough to play. I know I personally wouldn’t want to put in players who have very little experience and who normally should be playing JV. There are 6 sophomore starters on the offense where on a normal football team they would be on JV. They are 15 and 16 year old students playing against 18 year old experienced players
I thought there only needed to be 11 kids on the field. shame really.
they have a 35 man roster, sounds like they just didn’t feel like playing, should be a fined. Cromwell is hurting as well (freshman QB) but they were willing to play. Sometype of penalty is in order, you can’t just say i don’t want to play today
Hey when your right! Your right!
TRUTH!!
Your right, Cromwell should be hurting after hazing allegations for second year in a row, but they aren’t. Cromwell should be thankful they still have a football program and coaches after two years in a row of hazing issues. I thought safety for our student athletes comes first both on and off the football field. I’m sure Coventry made the decision based on the safety of their young athletes .
At a place like Coventry where numbers are low and you have your starters and usually an extremely drastic drop off if someone goes down, I’d assume that if their roster originally says 35 and only 23 were available then I’d assume a good amount of starters were hurt. So no, if they feel its unsafe to put back ups in who have no business being on the field then they should forfeit if there is a safety concern with the kids able to go out on the field in a Varsity game who wouldnt normally do so. yes 23 would seem like enough to play But if the coach deems it unsafe to play with the kids he has then I think he made the right call. Lets trust the choice the coach made as I know for a fact he knows better then any of us sitting at home what he’s dealing with in terms of numbers and players and what is best for all those directly involved. A fine?? Cmon