St. Paul-Keystone game canceled

A game that was agreed upon just 31 days beforehand will not be played this Friday between visiting St. Paul and host Keystone. The cancellation of the game was a mutual decision by both teams because of injuries and depth. From the beginning, the matchup was dependent on health and circumstances for both teams. On Aug. 11, Plymouth began informing Firelands Conference teams of its decision to field an 8-man football team for at least this season. That left an open date on the schedule for the remaining seven schools in the FC. Just five days earlier, Oberlin announced its decision to also not field an 11-man team this season. That created an opening in the Lorain County League. "There were some decisions to make on our end on the merits of just taking a bye week versus finding an opponent," St. Paul head coach Chris Doughty said. Western Reserve and Brookside in Week 9 and South Central and Black River in Week 10 were quickly paired with the common open dates among teams from the two leagues. St. Paul (1-2) and Keystone (3-0) also matched up in Week 4 with a common opening. The teams had also scrimmaged on Aug. 8, just three days before the date became open for both sides. The matchup was tentatively agreed upon during conversations that were initiated by Keystone. That is when the contract was presented and agreed upon by both sides: health would determine if the game was to be played. At the same time, Keystone also had the option to seek out a different opponent if something else became available. "The opportunity arose, and Keystone reached out to us to set up a game," Doughty said. "With where we are on the schedule after non-league and going into Firelands Conference play, it was important for me to make sure that by committing to a game like that, we had to be in a place where we're healthy enough to compete." Initially, Doughty wanted to commit to the game following the Flyers' Week 2 game against Tiffin Calvert. But by the end of a 28-0 loss to Northwood last week, the situation had changed greatly. St. Paul is down four two-way starters — nearly half from both sides of the ball — with several of those players out beyond this week. The Flyers started the season with 37 players. By the end of the game on Sept. 4, they were down 10 players total. In conversations since the game was canceled, Keystone officials noted the Wildcats are in a similar situation and will also benefit from a bye week. "Coach (Brian) Fox felt the exact same way," Doughty said. "We wanted to make sure both teams were in a position to be healthy enough going into that game but also going into our conference games. "Obviously things happened for us prior to and during the Northwood game," he added. "It's more important for us to work toward our season goals to make sure we're in position to compete for the FC title." The OHSAA uses the Harbin computer rating system to determine playoff qualifiers. The points are averaged based on the number of games played. Playing nine games instead of 10 does not automatically penalize a team's mathematically averaged score, because the divisor drops accordingly. The biggest downside to not playing 10 games is the lost chance to accumulate second-level points from a potential win. It also creates a disadvantage for teams attempting to finish among the top four in their respective region for a first-round playoff bye. However, with two losses already, the Flyers were a long shot to finish among the top four. Locally, Monroeville (0-3) and New London (0-3) also have not found a replacement for Plymouth and currently have a nine-game schedule. The Wildcats were to face Plymouth on Oct. 2, and the Eagles were slated to face the Big Red on Oct. 9. Mapleton (1-2) also currently has a nine-game schedule, with its Week 5 slot on Sept. 18 still open. Just last week, Crestview (0-3) was able to secure a home game against Div. IV Cincinnati Shroder (0-3) on Sept. 25 in Week 6. For Shroder, the game replaces Dayton Stivers, who also canceled its season after one game.