After Losing 61-0, Healdsburg's Tiny Football Team Cancels Season

HEALDSBURG, CA -- The tradition seeing your favorite high school football teams battle it out during Friday nights may be big in some areas but in the small town of Healdsburg, the sport has become dead this season. Situated in Wine Country, Healdsburg High School's Greyhounds ended its football season after its roster got smaller and smaller following two massive losses.

The Washington Post reported the Greyhounds walked away after losing a game, 61-0, to a team with 35 players when their team only had 18 players. Following that embarrassing loss, more players dropped from the team.

Principal Bill Halliday cited the school's tiny enrollment as part of the problem for the team's depressing season.

"When the season began and only 18 players came out for the varsity team, Halliday knew this team probably wouldn’t compete for a league championship," the Post reported. "As the school’s enrollment has dropped — a decade ago it had close to 1,000 students; now it has just more than 500 — Healdsburg has stopped scheduling larger schools it used to compete with regularly."

But Healdsburg's situation may not be unique. The Post reported high school football enrollment dropped by 6.6 percent in the past 10 years.

Still, the California high school is facing far different times than the Texas high school that recently unveiled a $70 million football stadium.

Read the full Washington Post story here.

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