Gainesville forfeits Friday varsity football game against Van Alstyne

Gainesville High School will not field a varsity football team against Van Alstyne on Friday, Oct. 30. The school forfeited the district game because too few players are available to compete safely, according to an announcement from Van Alstyne ISD.

Van Alstyne ISD gave two reasons: player safety and a shortage of available players. Its announcement did not say whether injuries caused the shortage, and it did not say how many healthy players Gainesville has. The Friday date appears on Gainesville ISD's athletics calendar.

Van Alstyne ISD said all sub-varsity games scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 29, will proceed.

The forfeited game is a district contest. The University Interscholastic League's 2026-28 alignment puts Gainesville and Van Alstyne in Conference 4A Division II, District 6, with Krum, Lake Worth, Ponder and Sanger. Under UIL playoff rules, the top four teams in each district in that division advance to the postseason.

Gainesville ISD named L.J. Searcy interim head football coach for the 2026-27 season. The district says he has worked for Gainesville ISD since 2016.

Gainesville is not the only Texas program to cut games short. Meridian ISD announced it was canceling the rest of its high school football season, saying injuries kept its team from competing safely.

The National Federation of State High School Associations reported that boys' participation in 11-player football in 2025-26 rose by about 1.4 percent to just over a million, the highest total since 2016-17. The federation cautions that its totals count entries rather than necessarily unique students, that reporting practices differ across states, and that its survey alone cannot explain increases or decreases.

Van Alstyne's next announced varsity game is Thursday, Nov. 5, against Sanger. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Panther Stadium for Senior Night, according to the district.