Despite summer troubles, Woodland football season a go…for now

Woodland High School is potentially faced with the very real decision of whether or not to field a varsity football team in 2018. A virtually unprecedented exodus of players over the past month left the program nearly devoid of capable varsity athletes.

But all is not lost, and a recent uptick in player participation has breathed new life in Woodland’s efforts to field a team this season.

It’s a constantly changing situation as players make personal decisions on whether or not to remain with the team, but as of Monday afternoon Stanford said the plan is to play the season as scheduled.

“At this point we do have enough players, and we’re looking to work to get [ready for the season],” Stanford said. “That’s our goal, and we continue to plan to do so. But we at the same time know we can’t afford to lose any more.”

There may be some good news forthcoming on that front as Stanford has had some promising communication with several key players who had recently decided not to play. A change of heart by those players could be the first step up from a near rock-bottom situation.

The dwindling number of players and a genuine concern for player safety among the athletes that remained placed the decision makers at Woodland in a spot that would have been unthinkable even two months ago.

“Best-case scenario we continue on with what we’re doing,” said Woodland head coach Jeremy Stanford. “Worst-case scenario, we don’t keep the players that we need in order to continue football at Woodland, if we don’t have enough numbers.”

Woodland is in the midst of its summer workout program, and this week is a scheduled off week for the Fourth of July holiday. Stanford said that entering the off week, workout attendance from football players stands at 25, with just seven of those coming from the 11th or 12th grade.

If those numbers don’t change for the better, or at least stay the same, then Woodland would be forced to play younger players who may not otherwise be ready for the rigors of varsity football.

“We also can’t afford to put some of the younger kids in some of those tough situations, seventh graders, eighth graders that have no use in being in some of the situations you might have to put them in,” Stanford said. “That hurts them for then, and that hurts them for their future as far as whether, you know, you kill a kid’s confidence at a early age and they decide that football is not for them. And that’s not what we’re looking to do.”

Shutting down the program would be a drastic measure for a team that appeared to have some momentum coming off of Stanford’s first season as head coach. Woodland won three of its last four games to finish 3-7 in 2017 and had hopes of contending for a playoff spot in the upcoming season.

But a lopsided loss to Wadley in the spring scrimmage in May and the transfer of some starting players shortly thereafter robbed the program of much of that momentum. After dressing 32 players in that spring game, the numbers slowly began to dwindle to the current total of 25.

Randolph County Schools Superintendent John Jacobs, whose son John David graduated from Woodland in 2015, said that he hopes the program finds its footing.

“I just hope they get it worked out, and the boys will come,” Jacobs said. “I hate to see it. Woodland has such a rich tradition of academics and athletics that I hate to see it start to fall to the wayside.”

If Woodland is unable to field a team this year there would be negative financial ramifications for the school beyond just the lack of gate and concession money brought in during home games.

Teams typically sign two-year contracts with opposing schools to play home and away games during those two years. If Woodland does not fulfill those contracts with their opponents they would be required to provide a specified dollar amount as restitution to those schools.

But Stanford hopes it doesn’t come to that.

“I’m hoping that we can overcome it. I’m going to try to fight to overcome it, and at the same time we’re praying that it turns out right,” Stanford said.

To that end a community meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, July 10 at 6 p.m. at Warren Sewell Field in Woodland. In an announcement submitted to the Leader for publication, the plea has gone out for former Woodland football players, in particular, to attend this meeting.

“The future of our football program is in jeopardy and we need your input and assistance,” the announcement reads. “If you played football at Woodland High School, please make plans to attend.”

Stanford said that the outcome of that meeting, and what happens with player attendance leading up to it, will give him and his staff a better framework from which to make a decision about the program’s future for the 2018 season.