ILWACO — Citing injuries, the Ilwaco Fishermen forfeited their Friday cross-over football playoff game against two-time defending 2B champion Kalama. Ilwaco’s season ended with a 4-5 record.

“We planned all weekend to play them, we watched film and game-planned, and then Monday came and… we only had about 12 players who could go. We had too much sickness and too many injuries.”

The Fishermen were able to play most of their top players, apart from the injured Dylan Simonson, against Pe Ell/Willapa Valley in the Friday season finale. But Cease said the wear and tear of the season had gotten to be too much.

“We had some injuries guys were trying to play through,” he said. “It came down to player safety… We had a meeting, the athletic director (Tim Harrell) the principal (Dave Tobin) and I, and it was not a decision any of us wanted to make. It was nothing to do with the fact that we were playing one of the top teams in the state… We just couldn’t play and have a clean conscience.”

The next task was informing the players of the painful decision.

“They didn’t necessarily agree with the decision, but they understood,” Cease said.