Sherrard Cancels Remainder of Varsity Season

Patrick Devitt · Aug 25, 2026

Sherrard Cancels Varsity Football Season, Will Play 1 More Game Friday

Sherrard High School has announced it will cancel the remainder of its varsity football season, following the conclusion of its next game against Orion schedule

wrmj.com

Reported 1st by Ty Taylor of WRMJ

After Friday nights contest with Orion, Sherrard will forfeit the remainder of its varsity games in 2026.

Open dates for the following TRAC schools

Sept. 4 - Rockridge

Sept. 11 – Kewanee

Sept. 18 – Princeton

Sept. 25 – Hall

Oct. 2 – Monmouth-Roseville

Oct. 9 – Mendota

Oct. 16 – Mercer County

Anon1754324197 · Aug 26, 2026

Well that sucks. Hopefully they can up their numbers soon

Carmine Evergreen · Aug 26, 2026

I feel bad for the seniors, but this was the right call.

SouthofI80Fan · Aug 26, 2026

It looks like they would have the numbers to play out the season but losing upperclassmen because of mono is uncontrollable.

AlabamaTimberwolf · Aug 27, 2026

Patrick Devitt said:
Sherrard Cancels Varsity Football Season, Will Play 1 More Game Friday

Sherrard High School has announced it will cancel the remainder of its varsity football season, following the conclusion of its next game against Orion schedule

wrmj.com

Reported 1st by Ty Taylor of WRMJ

After Friday nights contest with Orion, Sherrard will forfeit the remainder of its varsity games in 2026.

Open dates for the following TRAC schools

Sept. 4 - Rockridge

Sept. 11 – Kewanee

Sept. 18 – Princeton

Sept. 25 – Hall

Oct. 2 – Monmouth-Roseville

Oct. 9 – Mendota

Oct. 16 – Mercer County

Back in 1990 we dressed only 19 of our 22 out for football... We were 7-2 and made the 2A playoffs...at Kincaid we have had to play freshmen their 4 years and had success... But that success was after 3 straight 0-9 seasons... We didnt drop varsity football we just grew and sucked it up! Injuries never happen, aside from bruised egos of getting beat badly by state ranked teams...

SouthofI80Fan · Aug 27, 2026

AlabamaTimberwolf said:
Back in 1990 we dressed only 19 of our 22 out for football... We were 7-2 and made the 2A playoffs...at Kincaid we have had to play freshmen their 4 years and had success... But that success was after 3 straight 0-9 seasons... We didnt drop varsity football we just grew and sucked it up! Injuries never happen, aside from bruised egos of getting beat badly by state ranked teams...

It's not 1990 and Sherrard is not Kincaid. Times are different and player safety is much more important today than in 1990. These kids played and get pounded 56-0 for 7 weeks, they probably won't play football again.

If you look at some programs that have went JV for a year, it has helped their programs in the long run.

4Afan · Aug 27, 2026

AlabamaTimberwolf said:
Back in 1990 we dressed only 19 of our 22 out for football... We were 7-2 and made the 2A playoffs...at Kincaid we have had to play freshmen their 4 years and had success... But that success was after 3 straight 0-9 seasons... We didnt drop varsity football we just grew and sucked it up! Injuries never happen, aside from bruised egos of getting beat badly by state ranked teams...

The price of gas in 1990 was $1.25, an new house cost $80k, and Thornton won a state title. The same Thornton that has won 5 games over the last 5 years. Things change, get over it.

Anon430504 · Aug 27, 2026

4Afan said:
The price of gas in 1990 was $1.25, a new house cost $80k, and Thornton won a state title. The same Thornton that has won 5 games over the last 5 years. Things change, get over it.

They were runner up the year before but I get what the guy is saying no need to crucify him. Kids aren’t as tough nowadays

Anon430504 · Aug 27, 2026

When these schools forfeit do they have to pay the other schools who were supposed to host them? In TN they do for list gate,concessions,etc plus they get a 2 year ban on postseason so say they forfeit the season well they can come back strong the next year but aren’t eligible for the playoffs

4Afan · Aug 27, 2026

Anon430504 said:
They were runner up the year before but I get what the guy is saying no need to crucify him. Kids aren’t as tough nowadays

It has nothing to do with toughness. Injuries happen more often then they did 36 years ago because kids are bigger, stronger, and faster than they were back then. In 1990 a good DT was 5'10", 185 lbs., now you have kids pushing 300 lbs. MJC is 6'2", 235 lbs., people would have laughed at you in 1990 if you told them he was a RB. Plus, less kids are playing football across the board so I think it's more of an issue of numbers versus the increase in injuries.

Colin2299 · Aug 27, 2026

How are they able to play this week but not after??

Colin2299 · Aug 27, 2026

4Afan said:
It has nothing to do with toughness. Injuries happen more often then they did 36 years ago because kids are bigger, stronger, and faster than they were back then. In 1990 a good DT was 5'10", 185 lbs., now you have kids pushing 300 lbs. MJC is 6'2", 235 lbs., people would have laughed at you in 1990 if you told them he was a RB. Plus, less kids are playing football across the board so I think it's more of an issue of numbers versus the increase in injuries.

Not even close.

Injuries are down and the game has never been safer.

Also, where are the 300lb DT’s sherrard is playing against? They playing MJC this year that we didn’t know about?

4Afan · Aug 27, 2026

Colin2299 said:
How are they able to play this week but not after??

Read the article.

Colin2299 · Aug 27, 2026

Also, there are more kids playing football each year.

Colin2299 · Aug 27, 2026

4Afan said:
Read the article.

I did

4Afan · Aug 27, 2026

Colin2299 said:
Not even close.

Injuries are down and the game has never been safer.

Also, where are the 300lb DT’s sherrard is playing against? They playing MJC this year that we didn’t know about?

Where are you getting your injury numbers from? Most injuries weren't reported back then. Across the board how many torn ACL's do you see now versus 35 years ago.

Players in general are much larger than they were in 1990.

4Afan · Aug 27, 2026

Colin2299 said:
Also, there are more kids playing football each year.

Where'd you get these numbers from? If numbers are up why are there around 35 schools playing 8 man football and more schools canceling varsity seasons?

Colin2299 · Aug 27, 2026

4Afan said:
Where'd you get these numbers from? If numbers are up why are there around 35 schools playing 8 man football and more schools canceling varsity seasons?

It was released today bud

High School Sports Participation Increases for Fifth Consecutive Year

Football is “continuing to rebound” and has now reached its highest participation level since 2016-17.

National boys 11-man participation:

2018-19: 1,006,013
↓
2022-23: 1,028,761
↑
2023-24: 1,031,508
↑
2024-25: ~1.03 million
↑
2025-26: 1,043,716

Colin2299 · Aug 27, 2026

4Afan said:
Where are you getting your injury numbers from? Most injuries weren't reported back then. Across the board how many torn ACL's do you see now versus 35 years ago.

Players in general are much larger than they were in 1990.

Sure injuries are down. How can it not be considering:

No more two-a-days
Less contact days
More rest
Substantially better helmets
Better technique

Players are bigger in general in small school football where teams are cancelling their seasons? Negative that

4Afan · Aug 27, 2026

Colin2299 said:
It was released today bud

High School Sports Participation Increases for Fifth Consecutive Year

Football is “continuing to rebound” and has now reached its highest participation level since 2016-17.

National boys 11-man participation:

2018-19: 1,006,013
↓
2022-23: 1,028,761
↑
2023-24: 1,031,508
↑
2024-25: ~1.03 million
↑
2025-26: 1,043,716

Would be curious to know the breakdown by state. Just taking the raw number from last year it comes out to 20,874 football players per state. The IHSA has about 660 football playing schools so that would only be 31 players per school in Illinois. All I know is that teams weren't canceling seasons and there wasn't 8 man football 35 years ago.

4Afan · Aug 27, 2026

Colin2299 said:
Sure injuries are down. How can it not be considering:

No more two-a-days

Less contact days

More rest

Substantially better helmets

Better technique

Players are bigger in general in small school football where teams are cancelling their seasons? Negative that

So you're making assumptions on injuries?

I think your points 1 and 2 helped prevent injuries back in the day. Less full speed reps contribute to more in game injuries now.

Colin2299 · Aug 28, 2026

4Afan said:
Would be curious to know the breakdown by state. Just taking the raw number from last year it comes out to 20,874 football players per state. The IHSA has about 660 football playing schools so that would only be 31 players per school in Illinois. All I know is that teams weren't canceling seasons and there wasn't 8 man football 35 years ago.

That math is very flawed.

CoachAgro95 · Aug 28, 2026

SouthofI80Fan said:
It's not 1990 and Sherrard is not Kincaid. Times are different and player safety is much more important today than in 1990. These kids played and get pounded 56-0 for 7 weeks, they probably won't play football again.

If you look at some programs that have went JV for a year, it has helped their programs in the long run.

It doesn't seem to have helped Alleman so far.

SouthofI80Fan · Aug 28, 2026

Colin2299 said:
It was released today bud

High School Sports Participation Increases for Fifth Consecutive Year

Football is “continuing to rebound” and has now reached its highest participation level since 2016-17.

National boys 11-man participation:

2018-19: 1,006,013
↓
2022-23: 1,028,761
↑
2023-24: 1,031,508
↑
2024-25: ~1.03 million
↑
2025-26: 1,043,716

You are correct that numbers are increasing but that is nationwide. According to this USA Today Article, from 2008 to 2024, participation numbers in Illinois have dropped almost 30%. More kids might be playing but we are definitely seeing a decline in numbers across the state of Illinois.

SouthofI80Fan · Aug 28, 2026

CoachAgro95 said:
It doesn't seem to have helped Alleman so far.

As I said, it has helped SOME, not all. Alleman is a more unique situation than the public schools that have dropped varsity schedules.

USD24 · Aug 28, 2026

SouthofI80Fan said:
You are correct that numbers are increasing but that is nationwide. According to this USA Today Article, from 2008 to 2024, participation numbers in Illinois have dropped almost 30%. More kids might be playing but we are definitely seeing a decline in numbers across the state of Illinois.

Not according to this

SiuCubFan8 · Aug 28, 2026

CoachAgro95 said:
It doesn't seem to have helped Alleman so far.

Every situation is different.

CCIce10 · Aug 28, 2026

Colin2299 said:
Not even close.

Injuries are down and the game has never been safer.

Also, where are the 300lb DT’s sherrard is playing against? They playing MJC this year that we didn’t know about?

50 years ago i suffered from mono. I would rather have gotten hit by three 300pounders and then Dick Butkus to finish me off. Tried to comeback to my physical job a week early after six weeks off, because I felt fairly decent. Pushing your recovery too quickly can lead to a lifetime of heart problems. I couldn't carry my tool box from my truck a half block. That one can really kick everything out of you if you try to push it. I thought that I was a tough guy at the time. Mono laughed and spit in my face, I had no choice but to take it and more.

AlabamaTimberwolf · Aug 28, 2026

SouthofI80Fan said:
It's not 1990 and Sherrard is not Kincaid. Times are different and player safety is much more important today than in 1990. These kids played and get pounded 56-0 for 7 weeks, they probably won't play football again.

If you look at some programs that have went JV for a year, it has helped their programs in the long run.

Some have and some haven't... There are now several schools going back to JV to try again... Teams keep dropping Varsity games and it forces other conference school to scramble to get games... It could lead to getting kicked from conferences as well....

Sharrard has 30 players... How many does it take to play a varsity game? Most coaches are decent and won't run the score up and generally just run basic plays. It helps both teams.... Some coaches are pricks and like to run the score up no matter what...

I know in 1991 we lost games like:
Virden 81-0
Greenfield 76-0
Williamsville 64-0

Those teams didnt give a **** if they killed someone...

But most were good coaches that saw what we were and took pity on us.

Todays world... Who knows.....

No one will get killed if you play varsity games... Its growth!

Roamin' Catholic · Aug 29, 2026

SouthofI80Fan said:
As I said, it has helped SOME, not all. Alleman is a more unique situation than the public schools that have dropped varsity schedules.

coughpoliticscough

Sherrard Cancels Remainder of Varsity Season

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