WORTON — Citing concern for the safety and well-being of its student-athletes, Kent County High School abruptly announced on Tuesday that it had canceled the final football game of the regular season and would not participate in the state tournament.
KCHS (0-8) was scheduled to host Snow Hill (3-5) tonight in the regular-season finale for both schools.
Due to injuries and for other reasons, the Trojans’ roster had downsized from a high of 28 players to kick off the season on Sept. 5 to 13 or 14 players as of Monday, Oct. 27, first-year head coach Paul Tue and Athletic Director Kolyn Kirby confirmed in separate interviews with The Evening Enterprise.
Of those players available for tonight’s scheduled regular-season finale, only two were seniors — JeLen Wilson and Zayvion Brown.
Several of the others were inexperienced and undersized to be competing at the varsity level.
Only nine players showed up for the first day of practice Aug. 13, and it had been an uphill battle over the next two months to keep going.
“It’s not the way we would like to have gone out. … We were looking for a way to keep the pride, dignity of the program, but we just kept coming back to the safety concerns,” Tue said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
“It’s our job [as coaches and administrators] to err on the side of safety when dealing with kids,” he added.
In an email sent out at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 28 to students, families, staff and community, Kent County High School announced that the Oct. 30 game at home against Snow Hill had been canceled.
Also, after “thoughtful consideration,” KCHS would not participate in the playoffs set to start next week, according to the email.
“The safety and well-being of our student-athletes remain our top priority,” the email stated.
The decision to end the season early was made after a meeting on Monday afternoon that included Tue, Kirby, administrators and the school’s athletic trainer.
“It was a decision that nobody took lightly,” Tue said.
Prioritizing student health and safety, and noting that some of the injured football players are on the mend and would be looking to play winter sports that start practices on Nov. 15, Tue said he supported the decision.
He said he met with his players on Tuesday, when he was able to look each one of them in the eye and “give them words.”
Because of a sprinkler system upgrade that took longer than anticipated, the Trojans traveled for most of the football season.
KCHS played only once in its own stadium, Week 7, against Eastern Shore rival Washington (4-4) for homecoming on a Thursday night, Oct. 16.
Trailing 40-0, Kent County ended the shutout with just under four minutes to play when junior Thomas Moore — who was a member of the “quarterback by committee” with Brown — called his own number and ran for a touchdown. Moore then connected with classmate Dylan Hurtt for the two-point conversion.
After the game, Tue said he wasn’t happy about the loss, but was happy with the Trojans’ effort and perseverance.
That in a nutshell has been his take on the season.
Moving forward, Tue said the plan is to start recruiting now for 2026 and for the players to get back in the weight room within the next couple of weeks.
“It’s not going to be a traditional offseason,” Tue said. “We can’t wait until next spring or summer” to get started.
In the emailed statement earlier this week, KCHS’ administration stated its commitment “to continuing to build and strengthen our football program and look forward to future seasons with optimism and determination.”
