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P-O forfeits final two games; opponents upset

Philipsburg-Osceola announced Monday that its football team would be forfeiting the remaining two games on its schedule at home against Clearfield and on the road at Penns Valley.

“It wasn’t anything taken lightly,” Philipsburg-Osceola coach Brian McGonigal said. “After playing Friday, we had four more kids go down injured. We were down to 16 or 17 kids still dressed and seven of them were freshmen. Some of these are teeny tiny kids, and we’re not putting freshmen out on field against Penns Valley or Clearfield.

“We’re not planning on getting any kids back from their injuries, and it was about at what point we don’t have anyone to safely fill spots and protect themselves out on the field. We have seven or eight kids who could safely protect themselves and a teammate, and we wanted to put the kids first, thinking of their safety was of the utmost importance. When we realized we don’t have 11 guys that we can field a team with that can protect themselves, we reached out to the administration and parents. We talked about it, left it up to the players, got the parents opinion and the administration and everyone together came to the decision. We put players’ safety first.

That also meant the immediate end to the high school football careers of the few seniors left on Philipsburg-Osceola’s roster.

“Tyler Anderson, a starting offensive and defensive linemen, was frustrated and upset,” McGonigal said. “But he understood the decision. He’s a captain, and he realized he needed to think of his teammates and their safety on the field. We had a 140- and a 125-pound kid who would have been playing at linebacker going against Clearfield’s offensive line. That puts kids in harm’s way. He was supportive of the decision, but it stinks all around, for Clearfield and Penns Valley too. We apologized to them, and our school district apologized to them.”

Clearfield tried to find an opponent to replace the Mounties on Friday but said with the short notice it was “impossible,” and the Bison will accept the forfeit to make sure they get points toward the playoffs.

“It’s very disappointing, especially this time of the year,” Clearfield coach Tim Janocko said. “The kids are disappointed. They wanted to play football. That’s what they do.”

The forfeit may sting Penns Valley even more. Rams quarterback Aaron Tobias has thrown 42 touchdown passes through eight games this season, just 10 shy of the PIAA record for a single season. That number will be tougher to reach without a game in the 10th week of the season.

Penns Valley coach Martin Tobias said the school’s athletic director is working on trying to find a replacement game but no team had been found as of Monday night. Tobias said his team was informed of the forfeit Monday morning.

“It’s not just about (Aaron Tobias), it’s about all the kids,” Martin Tobias said. “There’s the disappointment of not having a senior night for the 12 seniors in our program. All the kids are disappointed. This week when we’re at Tyrone, it will be our third straight week on the road, and they were all looking forward to that last home game.”

The forfeits mark the end of what had seemed like a promising season for Philipsburg-Osceola, which opened with a victory over West Branch and was competitive through the first four weeks.

“Who would have thought after Week 1 or Week 2, where we played Bald Eagle Area tough that this would happen?” McGonigal said. “Then we had a heartbreaking loss Week 4 against Tyrone, and after that Tyrone week, we caught the injury bug. Each game we had four kids go down with injuries. These were contributors. We were down to three starters left on defense and four starters on offense that started the year last week, and then (running back) Kaleb Stamm got knocked out against Huntingdon.”

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