Late change for Ashton-Franklin Center as Raiders make abrupt switch to 8-man

ASHTON – John Kutz’s first year at coach of the Ashton-Franklin Center Raiders appeared to be going well when practices began earlier this month, but that’s all changed in the weeks leading up to their first game.

Injuries and low numbers caused the Raiders to cancel their 11-man football season, and the AFC school board made it official Monday, Kutz said.

The Raiders were going to enter the 8-man football circuit this coming fall, but now will use this spring to get a head start on that style of football, which doesn’t require as many bodies on the field at one time.

“I was hoping we could get 20 or 22, but we hovered right at the 17 mark with some players being injured,” Kutz said. “It just wasn’t going to be safe for our team.”

The Raiders, who were winless both in 2018 and 2019, were originally scheduled to face Aquin on March 26 in Freeport to open a five-game season. Instead, they will replace the Aquin game with an 8-man contest at West Central High School in Biggsville. A junior varsity game at Alden-Hebron is scheduled for Friday.

A little less than half of the Raiders roster are seniors, and another large chunk are sophomores.

“I got a handful of seniors that really have just been busting their butts since I got hired back in June,” Kutz said. “I just wanted to do whatever I could to give them some game action. They’ve been ripped from all of this stuff since last year.”

Rockford Christian, an independent school, plans to fill in the Raiders’ spots on the 11-man schedule, Kutz said; that includes games with Stockton on April 2, Forreston on April 9, West Carroll on April 16, and Amboy on April 23.

Kutz is hopeful their fresh 8-man slate will be filled with more than their first 2 weeks, he said.

“After that, it’s up in the air. Right now we got these two, and if anything opens up, we’ll be able to jump on those ones.”