Galt forfeits home opener due to thin roster

While the Denair football team plans to forge ahead, pitting its thin roster against a rugged small-school schedule, another shorthanded Sac-Joaquin Section team recently bowed to injury.

Galt High forfeited Friday's home opener against Argonaut — a first since Galt started playing football in 1924 — because of low player numbers and safety concerns. Galt is down to 13 healthy players after a rash of injuries suffered in a 38-7 opening-night loss to Orestimba and during practice last week.

Denair started Friday's 45-0 loss at Riverbank with 15 players and played the final quarter with 12 after enduring its own run of injuries.

Galt wasn't going to take any chances against Argonaut, a traditionally hard-hitting team.

In consulting with the school administration, Galt first-year coach J.J. Woodward begrudgingly agreed to sacrifice a game to regroup and heal for a nonleague contest this Friday at Amador.

The 30-man Galt junior varsity played Argonaut last Friday. Galt administrators and coaches didn't want to thin the JV roster to fill the varsity's need, out of concern that some 15-year-olds may not be ready for a jump in competition.