Quabbin Regional High School in Barre, Massachusetts, will forfeit its next two varsity football games because too many of its players are hurt. The program's roster has dropped below 20 healthy players, athletic director Mark Miville told Boston 25 News.
"We had to make the tough decision to forfeit our next two varsity football league games," Miville said. "This was not an easy decision to make and certainly not taken lightly."
The Panthers were scheduled to play Tyngsboro High School in Week 7 on Friday and Groton-Dunstable Regional High School in Week 8 on October 30. Neither game will be played as planned. Quabbin Regional is 1-5 this season.
"The decision was made solely for the safety of our young student-athletes," Miville said. He said the team plans to play in weeks 9 and 10 as injured players return.
Quabbin Regional High had 545 students in grades 9 through 12 in the 2024-25 school year, according to federal data. It is the high school for the Quabbin Regional School District.
Millis High School also canceled a game over injuries this month, its October game against Bellingham. "Our last game last Thursday, we had seven kids injured, so that brought our numbers down to 15 going into this Thursday," Millis Superintendent Bob Mullaney told NBC Boston. "We just can't safely put a team on the field."
Millis High had 286 students in 2024-25, according to federal data, and its football team is a co-op with Norfolk County Agricultural High School. "The numbers are declining, obviously," Mullaney said.
Nationally, 1,029,588 students played 11 on 11 football in the 2024-25 school year, similar to the year before, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), which runs an annual participation survey.
Sources
Boston 25 News: Mass. high school forfeits next 2 varsity football games due to mounting injuries (October 22, 2026)
Yahoo Sports: Mass. high school forfeits next 2 varsity football games due to mounting injuries
NBC Boston: Millis High School cancels football game (October 7, 2026)
NFHS: 2024-25 High School Athletics Participation Survey results
Enrollment from allk12's analysis of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data, 2024-25.
