The Fairfield football team will not play in Friday’s game against Hamburg, the school district announced earlier this week.

The Knights have decided to forfeit their upcoming away game against the Hawks due to a lack of healthy players, according to a statement released Wednesday by Fairfield CEO Thomas Haupt. The forfeit will count as a 2-0 win for Hamburg.

“After careful consideration and conversations with members of our football team, coaching staff and athletic director, we have made the decision to forfeit this game due to our inability to safely field a team,” Haupt said in a statement. “On September 3, the Administration met with members of the football team, coaching staff and athletic director to discuss the situation and ensure that the well-being of our students remains at the forefront of our decision-making.”

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Haupt also said in his statement that he and athletic director Keith Bruck will work with the Knights coaching staff to “make informed decisions about future football play on a week-to-week basis.”

Bruck said in a phone interview that he and the program thought a loss was the best option. Fairfield had 17 players on its roster at the start of the season but suffered a series of injuries that reduced the roster to 13 healthy enough to continue after a Week 2 loss to Eastern York.

“We just don’t have enough healthy bodies to safely put a team on the field this week,” Bruck said. “That’s basically what it comes down to.”

Bruck said he and the Knights coaching staff are monitoring the situation and hope the season will continue normally.

As of Thursday morning, the Knights Division III opener against Bermudian Springs on Sept. 13 was still going as expected.

“We hope to be able to play the rest of our schedule week by week, depending on how healthy our team is,” Bruck said.

This article originally appeared in the York Daily Record: Pennsylvania high school football: Fairfield forfeits Week 3 game to Hamburg