Graceville cancels varsity football prior to season

With just three days until the preseason begins, Graceville High School has canceled its varsity football season due to a lack of numbers on the roster.

The Tigers went through spring and summer operations with around 19 players under first-year head coach, Richard Koonce. Right before school began, six players transferred to other local high schools, and another three were ruled ineligible due to grades.

The Program was left with around a dozen middle schoolers and another dozen high school players, mostly underclassmen, so they will continue to field a JV and middle school team this season.

Coach Koonce said Graceville Principal Carlan Martin made the call to cancel the varsity season on Monday, with the decision coming down to keeping the young athletes safe.

“We lose nine out of 19,” Koonce said. “That’s pretty much your whole team. And most of those guys are upperclassmen. So, you know, the decision was made to not put the young guys in harm’s way and allow them to have a football experience where they won’t be beat up like in years past.”

It is uncertain at this time whether or not Graceville will have a varsity football team in the future. The potential end of an era would wrap up a program that won two state championships (1988 and 1993) and had four state semifinal appearances, with their most recent in 2005.

Coach Koonce said the season getting canceled is a heartbreaking blow to the rich history of the Graceville football program.

“I walked by the gym today and they got a picture of the first-ever Graceville football team,” Koonce said. “And I looked at it and I’m like, ‘Wow, that is almost a hundred years worth of history.’ And it just seems like that fire, that edge, that pride that the community had in their team, and Friday nights, it’s kind of dissipated.”

Coach Koonce said he plans to remain in command of the program during this difficult time, helping with the JV and middle school teams.

The termination of the season will affect other local teams with Graceville on their schedule including Wewahitchka, Sneads, Vernon, Franklin County and Cottondale. Wewahitchka was scheduled to face Graceville on week one of the regular season on August, 23. The Gators have since rescheduled to face Lighthouse Christian on that d