There wasn’t a single play that brought Park Christian coach Lawton Burgstahler to the decision that his 9-Man football program should cancel the rest of its West District South 1 Division varsity schedule.

But there was one moment. 

During the second half of the Falcons’ 48-0 loss to league foe Underwood on Sept. 9, Burgstahler looked at an empty bench and realized his 13-player roster was undermanned against the Rockets, who had 37 players and 12 seniors.

After a sleepless weekend, the first-year head coach conferred Monday morning with Park Christian Athletic Director Kurt Motschenbacher and Principal Chris Nellermoe before finalizing a decision to forfeit his team’s six remaining games and play a junior varsity schedule instead.

Burgstahler and Motschenbacher cited player safety as the main reason for canceling the varsity season, becoming the first Minnesota football program in recent memory to start its schedule and then cancel the entirety of its games due to injury concerns.

The high school football program from Laporte, a town 117 miles west of Moorhead, didn’t field a varsity team from 2007-2014 due to low participation numbers, and last September, St. Paul Humboldt forfeited a game against Minneapolis North because early season injuries to several upperclassmen depleted the Hawks’ roster and coaches would have been forced to use underclassmen to fill the roles. 

“It’s dangerous to play kids that young who aren’t ready for varsity football,” St. Paul Humboldt Activities Director David Mergens said in a Star Tribune story last fall. “It’s truly about the safety of our players.”

It’s a sentiment Motschenbacher shares, calling Park Christian’s move “critical” to the program’s long-term survival. 

“I don’t think our program would survive if we kept putting freshman up against these bigger and stronger teams. These freshmen are good athletes, (but) a ninth-grader is not a senior.”

Burgstahler said the number of underclassmen on the team this season had already dwindled due to injuries, and those who were healthy were forced into starting roles against Underwood players who -- in some instances -- were four years older than them.

Park Christian started an eighth-grader at left guard, a ninth-grader at right guard and a senior at center that game.

“It was one of those things where you’re shaking your head,” Burgstahler said.

After one freshman was injured in the first half and another went down on the opening kickoff of the second half, the Falcons were down to just 13 players.

“All of the guys I could have put in are already in, and so you’re kind of reaching for someone and that was kind of the moment where I was like, ‘Is this worth it?’ ” Burgstahler said.

“I don’t think our program would survive if we kept putting freshman up against these bigger and stronger teams," he said. These freshmen are good athletes, (but) a ninth-grader is not a senior.”

 Kurt Motschenbacher, Park Christian Athletic Director

Lack of numbers has been a recurring problem for the Falcons football program, which is in its sixth season. Often, freshmen and eighth-graders are pushed into varsity roles and struggle to succeed against polished upperclassmen, and as a result, players don’t come back for a second year.

“If we want to have a sustainable program, we need to have fun and we have to play teams that are actually competitive with us,” Burgstahler said.

Lien, a 5-foot-5, 140-pound two-year starter who plays linebacker, cornerback, running back and wing back, tried to help boost the confidence of the program's undersized underclassmen, constantly telling them to play without fear and as hard as possible. 

“You can’t go into something scared, because then you’re not going to go 100 percent, and if you’re not going to go 100 percent, you’ll get hurt,” Lien said.

Lien said he understands the move to a junior varsity schedule and was thankful that Burgstahler and the school’s administration worked to ensure the Falcons still had games to play -- ones the team has a fighting chance to compete in.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun because we don’t have to play big powerhouses,” Lien added.

One important home game remaining on the schedule is a matchup with Hillcrest Lutheran on Oct. 7. It will be a JV contest but preserves Park Christian’s homecoming.

“I was kind of mad about it at first...But then I thought about it a little more, and I thought that this is the best decision because the program is more important than the seniors.” 

Brandon Lien, Falcons senior captain

Hillcrest Lutheran coach Evan Newman said the decision to play the game was a difficult. His program already had a junior varsity game scheduled that week, meaning both games will have to be shortened (teams cannot play more than three halves per week, according to Minnesota State High School League rules).

While he wasn’t enthused with canceling a varsity game, Newman chose to do it out of respect for the Park Christian seniors.

“These seniors have worked four or five years to play in this game, and then the season gets canceled,” Newman said. “I just thought about my seniors, if that would have happened to them, I would want a team to do the same."

Laporte, Park Christian’s Week 5 opponent, is also struggling to fill out a roster. The Wildcats currently have less than 20 players and only one senior, and half of them are freshman or eighth-graders.

Fewer kids are playing football because of the new findings about concussions and brain injuries, Newman said.

“Back when I went to Hillcrest 22 years ago, the enrollment was the same, but we never struggled for numbers,” he added. “Everybody wanted to play football. Well, that’s not the case anymore.”

“I don’t know what we’re going to do (next year). But this is the start towards building something because for years it’s (been), ‘Bring in a bunch of freshman and get three or four of them hurt and then lose five or six of them.’ I want to keep all nine of my freshman this year.”

Lawton Burgstahler, Park Christian football coach

Motschenbacher, who is in his first year as Park Christian’s athletic director, said declining participation in the Falcons' program is partially a result of the increased awareness of player safety.

“Especially with all of the information these days about injury and prevention, we just don’t have the numbers, and we didn’t feel it wise to push our limits,” he said.

Burgstahler said canceling Park Christian’s varsity season is a step toward rebuilding the program, although he doesn’t have a firm timetable for its return from junior varsity.

The long-term goal for Park Christian, Hillcrest Lutheran and Laporte, as well as many other programs facing low participation numbers, is to build competitive teams and balance player safety.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do (next year),” Burgstahler said. “But this is the start towards building something, because for years it’s (been), ‘Bring in a bunch of freshman and get three or four of them hurt and then lose five or six of them.’ I want to keep all nine of my freshman this year.”