Pinecrest Acacdemy, a Class 1A Private school in Forsyth County, is choosing to play eight-man football instead of the GHSA’s traditional 11-man game because of a roster of only 18 players this season.
Pinecrest will play in the Georgia Association of Private and Parochial Schools in football only, according to the Forsyth County News.
“We just felt like with the number of boys that we had, the best thing for them was to put them in a position where we could safely compete, especially all that’s going on with the COVID stuff and everything else,” football coach Shawn Coury told the Forsyth County News’ David Roberts. “It’s strictly based off the numbers we have out for football.”
Coury indicated that Pinecrest could return to a GHSA schedule in 2021 as the GAPPS schedules on one-year contracts. Pinecrest had 29 players on its 2019 roster submitted to MaxPreps.
Pinecrest finished 2-8 last season under coach Terance Mathis, the former Atlanta Falcons wide receiver. The program won a region title and reached the Class A Private quarterfinals in 2015.
Pinecrest’s enrollment used for 2020-21 reclassification was 255 students, making the school one of the 25 smallest that fielded a GHSA football team in 2019.
Pinecrest’s decisions leaves 10 GHSA opponents looking for new teams to play. Pinecrest’s Region 6-1A opponents included Fellowship Christian, King’s Ridge Christian, Lakeview Academy, Mount Pisgah Christian and St. Francis. Pinecrest was scheduled to open the season Sept. 11 against Landmark Christian.
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