Webster County’s football team forfeited its second game of the season Thursday when Covid protocols forced the Trojans to vacate this Friday’s game at Union County. The match-up would have been both teams’ opener in 3A District 1 play.
WCHS had forfeited a contest earlier this season to Todd County Central. Webster was scheduled to play the Rebels in Elkton on Sept. 3.
Both games are recorded as 1-0 losses for Webster County, due to Kentucky High School Athletic Association rules. The only way to erase those losses is for the contests to be rescheduled. That is unlikely to happen since the Trojans have no more open dates available between now and the end of the season.
The forfeit gives Union County the lead in District 1, albeit a short-lived one. Trigg County plays Paducah Tilghman in Cadiz Friday. The winner will tie the Braves for the top spot in the standings.
The Trojans will host both Trigg and Paducah Tilghman in their remaining district games. The Tigers will visit Dixon on Oct. 15, and the Blue Tornado will come to town Oct. 22. Kickoff for both games is 7:00 pm.
Trigg County sits at 4-2 on the season, with wins over Warren Central, Ft. Campbell, LaRue County, and Fulton County. They lost to Murray and Todd County Central.
Paducah Tilghman has a record of 1-4, their lone victory coming in its season opener at McCracken County. They have lost to Graves County, Mayfield, and Henderson County. They forfeited to South Warren due to Covid.
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The Trojans have one more game before they return to district play, and everything about it is unorthodox for local fans.
First, the game will be played on a Saturday afternoon rather than the usual Friday night. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:00 pm on Oct. 9.
Second, it will be the first ever game between Webster and Dugger Union Community School, which has an interesting history.
Once part of the Northeast School Corporation of Indiana, Dugger Union is a K-12 charter school with a total enrollment of 543 students. There are 189 students in grades 9-12. The school had been closed in 2015 due to budget shortages. The move by the public school system ended the facility’s 100 years in the small town of Dugger in Sullivan County, about 90 miles due north of Evansville.
Local faculty, though, fought to keep the school open and pursued a different route: becoming a charter school. After being turned down initially by the state, the school reached an agreement with Grace College, a Christian school and seminary in Winona Lake, IN. The school is in the final year of its seven-year charter.
The Bulldogs have played just one game so far this season, a 46-6 loss to the Indianapolis Crimson Knights, a team comprised of players from home, charter, and private schools.