QND searching for replacement after Hayti forfeits Saturday’s scheduled football game

QUINCY — The Quincy Notre Dame football players were engaged in their pre-practice team meeting and watching game film when Raiders coach Jack Cornell interrupted everything with some disheartening news.

Saturday’s opponent — Hayti, a Class 1 school from the Missouri bootheel with an enrollment of 260 students — was forfeiting.

“Silent,” senior running back Jordan Stickler described the room.

Cornell understood the reaction.

“If you were a senior and you’re guaranteed only nine games, how would you feel to have one of those games taken away?” he said. “That’s rough.”

Winless in its first three games and dealing with several injuries, Hayti had only 14 healthy players projected to be in uniform Saturday. Instead of making the five-hour trip and risking more injuries, the Hayti administration pulled the plug Thursday afternoon.

After informing the coaches of the situation, QND athletic director Bill Connell immediately went to work to find a replacement.

Due to the officials shortage, the Raiders cannot move their 1 p.m. Saturday kickoff to Friday night to accommodate any potential opponent because no officiating crews are available. Besides, the number of teams still looking for a Week 4 opponent are miniscule.

Orion lost its Week 4 opponent — Port Byron Riverdale — before the season began, but has declined to play this week. The Rams (1-2) were practicing as if this would be a bye week. Colfax Ridgeview, which is taking a forfeit victory this week after Fisher canceled its season, is the only other Illinois school known to have an opening.

“We’re staying positive,” senior linebacker Jackson Stratton said. “We’re hoping for a miracle.”

If the Raiders cannot find an opponent by Friday, they will be forced to accept a forfeit victory. Finding an opponent and playing Saturday would negate the forfeit victory.

“We’re doing everything we can to give our kids a chance to play,” Connell said.

QND is 1-2 and will play the next four games on Friday nights before finishing the regular season on a Saturday afternoon against John Burroughs in St. Louis.