Friday night lights turn off on Porters varsity football

There will be no Friday night lights for varsity high school football on the North Fork this year.

The Greenport/Southold/Mattituck squad has suspended its season, head coach Tim McArdle said on Saturday morning. The Porters, who were to kick off their season against John Glenn at home on Friday, Sep. 12, became the second Suffolk County League IV school to cancel its campaign after Southampton dropped out on Wednesday.

During an Aug. 25 interview after a preseason practice, McArdle said that the program was on life support. Varsity teams need 16 eligible, healthy players on their roster to compete.

“We were hovering around at best at practices, 16 kids between varsity and JV,” McArdle said on Saturday. “That includes ninth graders who are not really varsity ready. That includes 10th graders are not varsity ready. I would say we were probably hosting a practice on average, maybe about nine varsity athletes.”

Greenport came off its most successful season in more than a decade, with a 4-4 regular season record while qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in 11 years. The Porters lost in the playoffs to Bayport-Blue Point, 42-14.

“It is unfortunate. We had a very successful season,” McArdle said. “I had a very competitive team last year that looked great on and off the field and really did all the right things. But we had a really strong bubble of kids. And to be honest, even as strong as our team was last year, we still were just getting by. I mean, we played a couple games with 13 or 14 kids, and that’s not really a healthy scenario.

“We knew we had an issue when we were only fielding three juniors and five sophomores. I knew there was going to be an issue moving forward. I’ve spoken with the Greenport AD about this a couple times. We did make a strong push for eight men football for the last two years, because we did know our numbers were in real decline. Not just football, but there’s many sports that are having a decline in numbers, as the schools are just getting smaller.” 

Playing with 16 players is a dicey situation because every football team suffers injuries, some season-ending ones.

“Players are going to get hurt,” McArdle said. “Kids are going to turn an ankle. Kids are going to be tired. Kids are going to get a cramp. You need reserves. You need back-ups. Even playing with 16 kids would be a real hard ask of a high school program. I always tell, you know, my AD that 20 is really the magic number you got to get to. You get to 28, you can play with anyone. Any time you’re under that number, you’re really going to struggle to play a full football game and look fully healthy and be able to compete from the first quarter to the fourth quarter.”

There will be football at Greenport this fall — at the junior varsity level.

McArdle said that the team’s juniors will be moved to the JV squad, “if they would like to remain on the team … If they do not want to remain on the team, they can move on to something else.”

He added that there were nine ninth graders who signed up for football this year, which will give the JV team 20 players, “which is good.”

“The push is to try to build from this ninth and 10th grade group and build them back up to a high school program,” McArdle added. “It’s not like we haven’t been here in the past. I believe it was five years ago that we only had just a JV team, and the following year, we turned around and went right back to varsity and remained in the varsity program, moving forward until this year.”

McArdle said he and his staff will move down to coach the JV team.

“We’re going to be hyper-focused on the JV and the junior high program,” he added. “I’m going to be bouncing back and forth between JV and junior high to help build up all levels and try to build more of a stable base moving forward.”

The JV team will host Southampton in its season opener on Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 4 p.m. That squad is scheduled to play seven games.

The five dedicated seniors on the team won’t be able to play football at Greenport or at another school, the latter according to Section XI regulations.

“That’s a Section XI rule as a safety issue,” McArdle said.

The varsity had eight seniors registered for football, although only five of them came out for practice.

“I think it’s a real shame that they don’t get to play. They work really hard year after year after year to try to get to this level. They are due their time, but unfortunately, it’s just not going to happen. That the team has to be able to support itself from top to bottom, and we don’t have enough kids to support their seniors and let them play,” McArdle said. “It just becomes a safety concern with low numbers. Whether you have five seniors, six seniors, seven seniors, if you don’t have enough 11th graders and sophomores to support them, they just lose the opportunity. And it’s very unfortunate. It’s very sad.”

The announcement from the school’s athletic department mimicked the coach’s sentiment.

“After much discussion and careful consideration, the Greenport Athletic Department has made the difficult decision not to host a Varsity football season this fall. Instead, our student-athletes will compete at the junior varsity level,” said Greenport athletic director Brian Toussaint. “This choice was not made lightly — it was driven by our commitment to the safety and well-being of our athletes. With current roster numbers, a varsity schedule would have posed unnecessary risks. Competing at the JV level will allow our players to continue developing their skills, gaining valuable experience, and enjoying the sport in a safe environment.

“We remain committed to the future of Greenport football and fully intend to bring back a Varsity team,” he continued. “The tradition of football runs deep in our community, and this step will help strengthen the program for years to come.”