Facing the prospect of having 12 players take the field against an undefeated Winthrop/Monmouth team with nearly five times that many, Sacopee Valley has forfeited Friday night’s scheduled football game at Maxwell Field.

Sacopee Valley notified Winthrop administrators on Wednesday night that it would not be fielding a team this week. Whether it will for the rest of the season remains up in the air.

“Due to some injuries, our numbers dropped to 12 eligible kids and for the health, safety and well-being of our kids, we couldn’t play Friday night,” Sacopee Valley athletic director Chris Hughes said. “It’s not a decision made lightly at all. We’ve struggled with it and felt for our kids’ safety it was something we had to do.”

By rule, the Maine Principals’ Association does not allow forfeits. A team that forfeits an MPA-sponsored game is deemed unable to complete the remainder of its season. MPA assistant executive director Mike Burnham said Sacopee can and has asked that the rest of its Class D West schedule, an Oct. 18 game at Old Orchard Beach and an Oct. 25 home contest against Telstar, remain intact.

“They have requested that the interscholastic management committee allow them to continue once the kids return,” Burnham said. “They would need a waiver in order to come back and complete the season.”

“We hope to continue the season,” Hughes said.

Without a waiver, Sacopee Valley would be prohibited from participating in varsity football for the next two years.

This is the second time in the last four years Sacopee Valley has forfeited a game. It received the MPA waiver after its 2010 season-opener at Jay had to be cancelled because academic ineligibility had gutted its roster. The Hawks began their season in Week 2 and played all of their games.

Winthrop athletic director Chris Moreau said Sacopee contacted Winthrop officials as early as Monday to inform them the game might be in jeopardy. On Wednesday night, Sacopee Principal Britt Wolfe contacted Winthrop Principal Keith Morin to confirm they would forfeit.

“We’re disappointed for our community, but we fully understand that we’re dealing with the well-being of kids,” Moreau said.

For Crabtree points purposes, the game will go down as a win for Winthrop/Monmouth, making it 6-0. Sacopee is 0-6.

This is homecoming week for Monmouth, which held a pep rally attended by the football team earlier this week. The team is also taking part in a spaghetti dinner in Monmouth. Not having a game to top off a big week in the cooperative’s first year is disappointing, said Winthrop/Monmouth coach Joel Stoneton, who added it’s particularly unfair to the team’s 19 seniors.

“You’re only given eight games, four of them at home and they just lost one,” Stoneton said.

“We feel terrible it had to come to this point. We feel awful for Winthrop/Monmouth that they lost an opportunity to play a home game,” Hughes said. “”They’ve been excellent throughout this week.”

The MPA’s interscholastic committee does not have a meeting scheduled in the next week. Burnham said the committee will likely hold an electronic meeting to decide Sacopee Valley’s fate well before next week’s scheduled game.

Stoneton, whose team sits alone atop the Class D West standings, will have a full practice Friday and try to stay sharp for its Oct. 18 game at Boothbay. The Ramblers have one home game remaining, Oct. 25 against Maranacook.

“It puts us in a tough position for a number of reasons,” he said. “We don’t want to come out rusty after a bye. We wanted to try some new offensive formations and get ready for those last two games. We’ll continue on. But this has a negative affect on a whole lot of other things, too.”

rwhitehouse@sunjournal.com

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