Highland football cancels homecoming game, coach resigns

Highland football has canceled its next two football games, including its homecoming matchup against New London on Friday. According to an email sent to school district parents Monday, the Huskies will not face the Tigers or play its game against Pekin that was set for Sept. 19.

The email cited “limited player availability” as the reason for the decision, saying both the varsity and junior varsity contests would be canceled.

“While this decision was not easy, it puts the health and safety of our student-athletes first and allows our team time to regroup and refocus for the remainder of the season,” the message said.

Highland has 21 players listed on its varsity roster. As of this week, school board President Nate Robinson said only 13 were healthy enough to play, making further games a “safety issue.”

  Buy Photo

New London Athletics posted on its Facebook page Tuesday confirming the game was canceled at Highland’s request, “due to injuries.” The post also said the game would not be made up, handing the Tigers a win by forfeit.

Highland started the season with losses to Martensdale-St. Marys and Wapello by a combined score of 53-7. The Huskies still have road matchups against Danville, Van Buren County and Midland as well as a home game against Columbus still on their schedule.

Additionally, Highland Football Coach Cory Quail resigned earlier this week, according to Robinson, who said the departure was effective Monday night, after it was accepted by the board.

According to a report from the Kalona News, Quail had been in the role since 2022. The Huskies went 6-18 during his three full seasons at the helm according to Bound, a statewide school sport stats-tracking website.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether Quail’s resignation was related to the cancellations or player injuries. Highland’s superintendent and activities director did not immediately respond to The Union’s requests for comments, and Assistant Football Coach Drake Brezina declined to comment on the resignation or its implications for the remaining football season.

District, neighbors, feel ripple effects

The cancellation of two home games is rough news for school district families, although Robinson said community members recognized the need for a change of plans.

“Obviously there’s been a lot of disappointment there, but there’s also understanding,” he said. “People get it, they understand.”

The two cancellations take half of this season’s home games off the Huskies’ schedule. That’s a big deal for the Highland Fine Arts Boosters, a group that raises money for the school’s marching band and theatrical performances predominantly through football concession sales.

Emily Piette, president of the booster club, said the group was worried about breaking even.

“The items we’ve already purchased, we’re trying to figure out now what to do with those items if we don’t sell them at the last game,” she said. “I’m feeling pessimistic … we were kind of relying on the homecoming game to make most of our money back.”

The club does have other fundraisers planned this year, including a VFW fish fry in late October, and a wreathe sale closer to the holiday season. Piette said the booster club would update its website if it eventually organizes a fundraiser cookout, or any other means of off-loading excess food at the end of football season.

  Buy Photo

“We do this because we care about kids, and we want them to have a lot of success in the fine arts, especially since they live in a smaller, rural area,” she said. “I think we’ll be OK, but it just adds more to our plate that we need to figure out, basically.”

Further from Riverside, the canceled games give a win by forfeit to districts scheduled to play against the Huskies.

Dominick Loyd, New London’s Head Football Coach, said he and his players found out about the cancellation Monday, in the middle of their preparation for the matchup.

“It’s small-town, high school football Iowa, you deal with that kind of stuff, I feel bad for them,” he said. “We went through it a couple years ago, we had to cancel a football game due to numbers … we know the situation they’re in, because we’ve been there.”

New London opened its season with a small roster as well, totaling just 16 players after the district switched from eight to 11-man football this year. Loyd said his side had to be diligent in their practice habits to minimize the potential for injuries.

“It’s not a lot of contact, tackling drills are low-impact,” he said. “You’ve got to change your offense around, you can’t get into the power-run games, because that’s where you get beat up … run a more wide-open offense, spread out, keep kids in space.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com; jack.knowlton@southeastiowaunion.com