SFIS forfeits regular-season finale, citing player safety as roster size shrinks

Oct. 22—Bill Moon said if the Santa Fe Indian School football team had a bye instead of a football game this week, he wouldn't have made the decision he did Wednesday.

With only 10 players healthy enough for Friday's District 2-3A finale against West Las Vegas, the Braves forfeited the game.

Moon said he informed SFIS athletic director Eric Brock of the team's situation Wednesday, and the school announced the forfeit Thursday morning in a news release.

"Santa Fe Indian School has several players deemed unable to compete in this contest due to injuries," Brock wrote, "and with the safety of our student athletes at the [forefront] of our programs, it is deemed necessary to forfeit this contest."

Moon, though, said it was a case of bad timing, because a week off would have helped some of the injured players heal. The team had 17 active players for most of the district season. SFIS finishes the year 5-5 and 0-4 in 2-3A.

"It was going to be tight, and we almost made it," Moon said. "If this was our open date, we would be a much better team next week because we would have had everybody available."

Moon is in his first year as head coach of the program after spending nine years in his second stint at Capital. He started the year with around 30 varsity players in the program, but injuries and attrition left less than 20 by the time the 2-3A season rolled around.

Injuries started to pile up once the district games began, and Moon said he was moving cornerbacks to linebacker spots during a 50-14 loss at Raton on Oct. 15. It was a sign that the Braves' injury situation was in a crisis.

Moon added the program only had 21/2 weeks worth of preseason practices prior to the start of the season, and the lack of conditioning and weight training caught up with the players.

"You can't jump into an Indianapolis race car with two weeks of practice and race," Moon said.

While the regular season is over for SFIS, the process of building the program continues. Moon said about a dozen players were in the weight room working out Thursday, not just to prepare for next season but possibly two weeks from now.

While SFIS failed to win a district game, its 5-5 record and MaxPreps ranking of 12th gives the program hope that it might have a good enough résumé to secure a spot in Class 3A's 12-team playoffs.

Moon said playing in a district in which four teams are ranked in the top five of the MaxPreps rankings helped SFIS, even if it did not win a 2-3A game.

Brock wrote in the news release the school would be able to compete in a playoff game if selected.

It would be the first time since 1991 SFIS participated in the postseason.

"We got close to having a winning season, we could potentially beat two district champions and we're ranked 12th in the [MaxPreps] Freeman rankings," Moon said.

As great as that would be for the team, Moon said he is equally focused on building a strong foundation that can help turn the Braves into a solid football program capable of competing with district teams.

Moon said offseason training is crucial for building a strong football culture, and getting players into the weight room and working out in the offseason is essential.

"If you got 20 kids walking down the hallway fit, happy and playing good ball, it sure beats kids walking down the hallway with slings and limps or a bruise," Moon said.

Moon said he also would like to visit the 19 pueblos the school serves during the school year to introduce himself to families and potential students. He pointed to an age-old adage he learned from coaches while in Chicago.

"The joke is, 'Recruit the mom, and you get the kid,' " Moon said. "If mom and dad are sure the program is safe, they are fine sending their kids to a place they know they are safe."

Moon said he is also contacting players who played this season, those who expressed interest at the beginning of the year or left the program to let them know he is interested in getting them to play.

"I already sent out 30 or so texts to kids who were injured or were released [from the sport]," Moon said. "These kids were the best kids in their fifth, sixth, eighth grade class, and they weren't used to getting drilled. They did the drilling.

"We want to make sure they don't drift away from the program. We want to draw that marlin back into the boat."