Daegu’s football team lost 22-0 Saturday at Zama in a game called in the eighth minute of the first quarter. The Warriors had four players suffer serious injuries and four others dinged up when play was stopped. (Tim Flack/Special to Stripes)
Daegu Middle-High School’s football team will continue playing this season, but as a junior varsity program in the wake of injuries suffered in last Saturday’s truncated loss at Zama, DODEA-Pacific and Daegu school officials said Tuesday.
The Warriors lost four players to serious injuries and had four others dinged up during Saturday’s 22-0 loss at Zama, a game that ended in the eighth minute of the first quarter.
Daegu will play against Osan’s and Humphreys’ JV units the rest of the season, officials said. A schedule of games for the Warriors has yet to be announced, but they will not be playing this week, athletics director Kathryn Brashears said by phone Tuesday.
“The bye week will give us time to recoup from the injuries,” she said, adding that the school plans to field a varsity football team next year. “We’ll get the kids some experience this year (as a JV team) and hopefully they’ll be stronger for next year.”
School administrators announced the decision at a meeting with football parents Tuesday evening at the school.
Daegu had not fielded a football team since the 2019 season. The Warriors forfeited their scheduled Sept. 1 game at Osan and fielded 17 players and played nine-man format football in its two games, including a 48-12 home loss to Matthew C. Perry on Sept. 9.
That game ended with eight minutes left when the Warriors fell short of enough players to continue.
“The safety of the kids is what we’re concerned about,” DODEA-Pacific athletics coordinator Tom McKinney said. “They haven’t played football in four years.”
The Warriors’ four remaining scheduled games will go as forfeit victories for their opponents, McKinney said. Daegu was to play Saturday at Robert D. Edgren, Oct. 6 at home again Osan, Oct. 14 at American School In Japan and Oct. 21 at home vs. Yokota.
