Football Season Comes to Early End At Dunkerton High School

High school football teams across Iowa are preparing to play their final regular-season games this week, but at Dunkerton the 2014 campaign has already ended.

Dunkerton Superintendent Jim Stanton says school officials have decided to cancel the Raiders' final game of the season, scheduled for Friday night (October 24). Dunkerton was to supposed to host English Valleys.

The decision to call off the regular-season finale was made by the Board of Education during a meeting Monday night. The game will be forfeited to the Bears, who will receive a 13-0 victory.

Cancelled of this week's game is the latest fall out from a planned boycott that forced Dunkerton to cancel and forfeit last week's scheduled game at Don Bosco.

At a special school board meeting on Thursday, officials upheld an earlier decision to impose an in-school suspension of a football player who videotaped a fight. While another student involved in the altercation also was disciplined, the decision to suspend the football player resulted in the planned boycott – and ultimate cancellation – of the game at Don Bosco.

School officials said they decided to forfeit last week's game because of safety concerns. They were worried that the lower number of players would increase the risk of injury.

Forfeiture of the game at Don Bosco will impact Dunkerton's 2015 season. In accordance with Iowa High School Athletic Association policy, the Raiders must play next year's scheduled home game against Don Bosco at Gilbertville since the Dons were supposed to host Dunkerton this year.