OKEMOS (WWJ) - Dismal numbers among Okemos High School's varsity football roster and mounting injures has destroyed the remaining seasons after officials made the call to cancel its last four games.
Okemos is a Division 2 school with more than 1.400 students, but that hasn't stopped the football team from lacking experienced players, the Lansing State Journal reported.
According to the outlet, the Wolves' season started out rough with a team consisting of several inexperienced, young and smaller players. After match ups against schools like East Lansing, Mason and Haslett, Okemos lost a handful of players and forced coaches into making a tough decision.
By Tuesday of this weekend, officials called off the remainder of its varsity season.
“We just got to the point where now we’re starting to put some first-year juniors in positions we didn’t even start the season off putting them in,” first-year Okemos coach Efe Scott-Emuakpor told the Lansing State Journal. “It just started becoming a safety issue. We had a few ER visits and kids getting taken off on ambulances. It just got to the point when we needed to start making some decisions for the betterment of the program and for the safety of our kids.
Scott-Emuakpor said it was a decision he did not want to make, but it was the best one for his team.
"Definitely, this was the right decision to make for the future and investing in the future and doing what’s right for the kids in keeping them healthy," Scott-Emuakpor added.
The coach went on to say that they weren't "quitting on the kids," and instead will shift their focus on to the junior varsity team.
The final four games the varsity team would've played will be forfeited.