Modoc football forfeits upcoming game against Redding Christian

Modoc High School has forfeited its upcoming football game against Redding Christian, Modoc head coach James Brogan confirmed.

Modoc is 2-4 this season and most recently defeated Shasta Cascade League rival Fall River, 28-14, on Friday, Oct. 2. The Braves have 15 players on their roster, and injuries suffered both before the Fall River game and during practice this week have left Modoc unable to field a team.

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"We had 12 players on Friday (against Fall River) that we rolled in with, managed to get out of that pretty healthy, came back in the beginning of the week still with 12 guys and then we ended up losing two guys at practice," Brogan said.

Brogan said one of two players injured at practice earlier this week likely suffered a season-ending injury, while the other is set to be reevaluated next week. If the Braves were to compete against Redding Christian on Friday, they would have only had 10 healthy players.

The Braves do not have a game on Oct. 16, and they are next scheduled to face off against Weed on Oct. 23.

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"We're hoping to get (one of the players injured at practice this week) back and then a couple other guys that have been out for a few weeks," Brogan said. "We intend to use the bye week and the rest of this week to rehab some stuff, get healthy."

Brogan and his staff looked at potentially elevating junior varsity players to the varsity squad, but the JV team has also suffered injuries throughout the season.

"I don't want to take away anything that Redding Christian has done. Darren Goodman, Levi (Putnam). Obviously, we all know what Wyatt Shaw's been doing," Brogan said. "Congratulations to them, and it's really unfortunate that we have to be part of taking that game away from the historic stuff they've been putting together."

Modoc is the second SCL team to forfeit a game against Redding Christian this season. Weed High School also forfeited its Sept. 25 game against Redding Christian. While the Lions did compete the following week against Mt. Shasta, the Bears also forfeited a game against U-Prep earlier this season, making it three SCL teams that have forfeited a game this year.

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"It's a bummer, especially for the boys," Piper said. "The boys are bummed that this is their second (forfeit), but then again, it's understandable and it's just the way some of our league is right now. I really don't blame anybody, but it's hard not to get disappointed for the boys."

The Lions now improve to 7-0 this season and extend their winning streak to 22 games, two of which were forfeits. The Lions made a historic postseason run in 2025 that culminated in a state championship. Piper is adamant that the two forfeits this season won't impact the team's readiness for the 2026 playoffs.

"We won't allow that to happen," Piper said. "We'll be ready to go come postseason."

Piper and the Lions looked into finding a replacement opponent but given the short time frame and with most NSCIF teams entering league play, they were unable to find a matchup. Instead, the Lions will practice on Thursday and have a day off on Friday.

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Redding Christian will next face off against Trinity on Oct. 16. Piper has not spoken to Trinity officials, but he expects to play that game. The Lions will then face off with Fall River on Oct. 23 before closing out the regular season against Etna on Oct. 30. Fall River and Etna have the two largest rosters in the league, and Piper expects to compete in those games as well.

Even though the Lions have dominated the league since the 2025 season, Piper doesn't anticipate switching leagues or divisions. Redding Christian has 150 students at the high school level, and the football team will lose 12 current players to graduation before next season.

The Lions finished fourth in Shasta Cascade League play in 2024 before kicking off a historic run that has yet to stop.

"There's only one other league that we could really get into, and as far as divisions go, that's set by enrollment numbers," Piper said. "We're also graduating 12 very good players and that will impact our team next year, so I'm not looking into (changing leagues or divisions) at all."

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Forfeits have become increasingly more prevalent throughout the section. Oroville High School even had to forfeit its entire season earlier this year. Dwindling enrollment numbers and the subsequent lack of interest have impacted teams beyond the Shasta Cascade League and Northern Section.

"I don't even know where it starts because we're seeing it across the section, across the nation," Brogan said. "I know for us specifically, we're dealing with a very small enrollment, as well as a (small) pool of athletes to choose from, and starting out with those low numbers already puts us in a tough spot going into the season."

State of the Shasta Cascade League

• Redding Christian (7-0, 3-0): 21 players

• Etna (4-1, 1-0): 25 players

• Trinity (2-4, 1-1): 15 players

• Modoc (2-4, 1-2): 15 players

• Fall River (2-4, 1-1): 25 players

• Weed (0-4, 0-1): 20 players

• Mt. Shasta (0-6, 0-2): 23 players

Brett Abrams is a sports reporter for the Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. He covers high school and local sports in the Redding area. Reach out to Brett with any sports tips or news on X (formerly Twitter) @brabrams_ or by email at Brett.Abrams@Redding.com. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today. Thank you.

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This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Modoc football forfeits upcoming game against Redding Christian