How a Tennessee high school football team will manage player safety with two games in less than 24 hours

Livingston Academy made the unusual decision to allow its varsity football team to play games on back-to-back days this week to compensate for its loss of a game with Whites Creek that ended in a no-contest after a power outage on Aug. 25.

The Wildcats (0-2) will play host to Region 4-4A rival Upperman at 7 p.m. Friday and then travel to Jenkins, Kentucky, for a 4:30 p.m. (CT) game against Jenkins High on Saturday.

Livingston Academy assistant principal John Teeples said he had discussions with the school's athletic trainers and football coaches, who broached the idea of playing Jenkins on Saturday, about the risks of playing two football games in a 24-hour window.

"It would be a JV game," Teeples said. "It's going to be considered a varsity game, but it's going to be a JV game. Varsity will dress and they will all go on the trip, but if they get a series in or two series, I'll be surprised. And I don't mean that bad (about Jenkins)."

Livingston Academy wanted to avoid a nine-game season and added Jenkins despite having reservations about playing two games in as many days. Teeples said playing a game in the middle of the week was not an option considering the four-hour drive to Letcher County, Kentucky, and the Cavaliers' only open date was Saturday.

"It's a huge trip so a mid-week game wasn't going to be feasible," he said. "That was the only date that they gave us."

Teeples said Livingston Academy's starters could be on a minutes restriction for Friday's game against Upperman depending on the score.

The TSSAA has no policy against playing two games on consecutive days but no player is allowed to play more than eight quarters in one week on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Special teams does not count toward the eight-quarter limitation.

"It's already been discussed, I promise you," Teeples said. "We're not going to throw kids to the wolves by any means."

Jenkins is a small independent school in the far southeastern corner of Kentucky near the Virginia border. The Cavaliers shut down their football program midway through the 2019 season after starting that season with just 13 players, according to a 2019 article in the Lexington Herald Leader. Injuries forced the school to suspend the program for safety reasons.

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The football program returns this year after a two-year hiatus with just over 30 players on its roster but the program has not been designated a district or region in Kentucky and are not eligible for the KHSAA playoffs until at least 2025, according to the KHSAA web site.

The Wildcats scrambled to find an opponent after the Whites Creek game was declared a no-contest two weeks ago. Livngston Academy was leading 24-12 with a minute left before halftime when thunderstorms rolled through the area, knocking out power to Livingston. Teeples said both schools waited over an hour for power to be restored before the game was called.

"If we make the call (to end the game) the power will come back on," Teeples said. "If we don't make the call, we'll be sitting here all night. We made the call, the officials pull out, Whites Creek gets on their bus and leaves and then the power came back on."

Teeples said Livingston Academy was unable to come to terms on a make-up date with Whites Creek.

Reach sports writer George Robinson at georgerobinson@theleafchronicle.com and on the X platform (formerly Twitter) @Cville_Sports.