East Rutherford to drop varsity football for 2021 season

East Rutherford will not field a varsity football team this season, according to a report from The Daily Courier in Forest City.

Due to low numbers in the program, the school has decided to only field a junior varsity team this season.

The Cavaliers named a new head coach in mid-July, announcing the hiring of Josh Wilson.

“This has not been an easy decision as input has been sought from our football coaching staff, parents and players,” said Principal Tim Torvinen. “Consideration was given to fielding only a varsity team like last year, however, with a very limited number of experienced upperclassmen returning, the lack of high school experience among many of our current players, and with the goal to compete at the varsity level in 2022, I believe this is the right choice for our program for the 2021 season.

“We are working to modify our current junior varsity game schedule to provide our junior varsity team with as many games as possible this season. Our goal is to build our program back by working with the outstanding group of young men on our current roster, recruiting our student body for additional players, and working with our feeder programs.”

Polk County’s varsity was scheduled to travel to East Rutherford on Oct. 22. The Wolverines already have an open date on Oct. 8, so losing the East Rutherford game would leave Polk with just one game in a three-week span, that an Oct. 15 meeting with Chase.