Injuries play a role for every sports team. But when injuries deplete almost half the roster, there’s just no point in trying to play a game.
That’s why Greenport athletic director Jim Caliendo decided to cancel the rest of the Greenport/Southold/Mattituck high school football season.
The two games remaining on the schedule for the Porters (2-4)— one Friday night against Elwood/John Glenn and the other an away game the following Saturday at Wyandanch — will go in the books as forfeits.
“The injury bug really got to us this year,” Caliendo said. “We lost eight out of 22 players and most of those kids were starters.”
Billy McAllister, the Porters’ running back and go-to offensive weapon, was among those injured.
“Losing McAllister was definitely a big loss and played into our decision,” Caliendo said. “He was our big running back.”
“That’s what happens when you start with 22 kids,” he continued. “You gotta keep on eye on things like this.”
Eighteen players attended practice on Tuesday though only 13 were ready to play. The other five watched on from the sidelines with debilitating injuries. Some attended practice in crutches.
Injuries do heal and some heal faster than others, leaving one to question whether it’s too early to cancel the final game against Wyandanch being that it’s still two weeks away.
“I don’t think it’s an option,” Caliendo said. “What message are you sending to the rest of the county? We’re not going to play the top teams but we’ll play the other teams?”
Elwood/John Glenn is 5-1 and Wyandanch is 0-6 in Suffolk’s Division IV.
After the Wyandanch football game last week, two males were stabbed in a fight. Asked whether that played into the decision, Caliendo answered: “No. That didn’t even come into play. It was a decision made for our kids on the North Fork.”
As of yesterday, Caliendo had hoped to iron the entire situation out with Southold and Mattituck’s athletic directors, along with the coaches, but canceling the rest of the season was really the only option. They could have possibly brought up some players from JV but Caliendo didn’t feel like it was the right thing to do.
“We’re just worried about our student athletes at our three schools and the junior varisity kids are just not ready to play at the varsity level,” Caliendo said. “It’s just not right to throw them into a varsity game.”
Even the JV team was hit with the injury bug, canceling the season, too. They only had seven players show up to practice. Eyes now look forward to next year. Caliendo says there’s around 35 players on JV and they hope to build a solid nucleus for the years to come.
There will be a meeting for all parents of Porter football players — whether from Greenport, Southold or Cutchogue schools — this evening at 6 p.m. in the Greenport high school auditorium.
