The numbers game caught up with the Barberton football team and Friday’s Suburban League American Conference varsity game at Highland has been canceled.
News broke Sept. 30 the Magics (1-5, 1-2) wouldn’t have enough healthy players to play the Hornets (6-0, 3-0) after Barberton’s 33-29 loss to Kent Roosevelt in Week 6.
That put the onus on Barberton athletic director John Sabol, who told Highland administration the Magics would not be able to play on Friday, Oct. 3, according to the Highland athletic department.
“Barberton City Schools has made the difficult decision to withdraw from this Friday’s football game due to a number of player injuries that have reduced the roster size,” Barberton City Schools said on its website. “While multiple options were explored, it was determined that competing would not be safe or feasible.”
Superintendent Jason Ondrus emphasized that student safety remains the district’s top priority:
“Our players have shown tremendous effort and dedication,” Ondrus said in the release. “This decision is in no way a reflection of their commitment. We expect to return to the field for the remainder of the season and will continue to monitor the health and safety of our student-athletes each week.”
Hornets athletic director Jon Bailey spoke with OHSAA director of officiating and sport management Beau Rugg and was told the game will go down as a no contest. The divisors for Highland and Barberton in the Harbin rankings go down from 100 to 90 as well.
“We want to share an important update regarding our scheduled Homecoming varsity football game against Barberton this Friday, Oct. 3, 2025,” Highland posted on its Facebook page. “Late last night, we were informed by Barberton’s Athletic Director that, due to reported injuries to 10 of their starting players, they would be unable to play on Friday night. Wanting to preserve this event for our students and community, we met with their leadership team today at 12:00 p.m. to explore possible options. Along with the Commissioner of the Suburban League and the head official for the game, we collaborated to establish a modified game plan that included the following agreed upon parameters: limited playing time for our starters, using abbreviated quarters, and implementing a running clock, among other adjustments. At that time, Barberton committed to moving forward with the game under those conditions and agreed on this modified game plan.
“Unfortunately, only a short time ago—after seeing reports circulate on social media and various media outlets—we learned that Barberton is not, in fact, planning to play Friday night. We know how disappointing this is for our players, families, and the entire community, especially given the importance of Homecoming, the Alumni Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, and other time-honored traditions that mean so much to our students. We are exploring options for an alternative Homecoming celebration so that our students, alumni, and community may still have an opportunity to come together Friday evening. Additional information will be shared as it becomes available. Thank you for your understanding and your continued support of our students.”
Highland football coach Mike Gibbons understood the situation, but felt disappointment for his team.
“I feel terrible for the kids, for the school and for the community,” he said. “It’s homecoming weekend. This is not the way we wanted to enjoy the weekend with the big game.”
The next step for Highland is to figure out what the protocol is in a situation like this.
“We’ll go through the OHSAA and find out specifically what the rules are for this,” Gibbons said. “We’ll try to put ourselves in accordance with the rules and go from there.”
This is a developing story.
Contact Brad Bournival at bbournival@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @bbournival.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Barberton High School football cancels Suburban League game with Highland. Here’s why
Reporting by Brad Bournival, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
