Injuries force Tigers to cancel game at WEM

The Medford Tigers’ game against the WEM Buccaneers scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 12 has officially been canceled after the Tigers suffered a host of injuries in last week’s game against St. Clair/Loyola.

According to head coach Jerome Johannes, the decision was not an easy one to make, but necessary to ensure the safety of his team and the longevity of its season.

“It's pretty simple, we just don't have enough upperclassmen to play the game on Thursday. Most of the injuries we have sustained have been to starters, and with the lower numbers we have, we just don't have the capability to play a varsity game. Without getting into specifics on injuries, it comes down to the risk of playing freshmen players out of position versus a varsity squad. It was not an easy decision, but a decision that we – the coaches, administration and team – felt was necessary if we wanted the possibility to play future games this season,” said Johannes.

The Medford Tigers started the season with 31 total players, but are a relatively young team with 20 underclassmen on roster.

As could be expected from a team heavily reliant on upperclassmen two-way starters, depth after injuries is a major concern.

With the game against WEM off of the schedule, Medford will now turn its sights to potentially returning to action at home against Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton (JWP) for its last game of the regular season.

However, there is no guarantee that the Tigers will play next week either according to Medford Activities Director Tim Grayson.

“We are still in limbo for our Wednesday, Oct. 18 football game home against JWP as well,” said Grayson.

Updates on the future of the Tigers’ season will be added as more information becomes available.