New Jersey football team forfeits league game against top foe because of safety concerns
It's not that the highly ranked Jersey City (N.J.) St. Peter's Prep football program had superior equiment and resources than the Kearny (N.J.) High squad, though that very well may have been the case. Rather, as noted by the Newark Star-Ledger, Kearny simply felt that St. Peter's was too skilled for it to succeed in the game, deciding that it was better off absorbing a forfeit instead of trying to fight a losing, undermanned battle that could lead to player injuries.
"The Board of Education and the superintendent made a decision not to play the game for safety concerns," Kearny athletic director John Millar told the Star-Ledger. "I was informed by the superintendent this morning that I should call St. Peter's and cancel.
"Let's face it, we are extreme opposites in terms of competitiveness. They're very good and our program is not. There was concern over potential for injuries. And if we had too many players injured today, there was a question about going forward with the rest of our season and whether we would be able to play it or finish it."
To put the vast difference in skill between St. Peter's and Kearny in perspective, just take a quick look at the two programs' numbers: Kearny would have entered Friday's game with a record of 0-2, and being outscored by an aggregate 90-8 across its two losses. St. Peter's was 2-0, winning both of its previous games by scores of 31-6 and 77-7. Both of those victories were on the road, out of state, against highly regarded foes.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschool-prep-rally/jersey-football-team-forfeits-league-game-against-highly-151000437.html
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