Defending Iowa High School State Champion Forfeits Game

Remsen St. Mary’s halts game at halftime due to lack of healthy players

Remsen St. Mary's Lennan Steichen (76) and Remsen St. Mary's Brady Koenck (26) celebrate after defeating Gladbrook-Reinbeck during the Iowa high school 8-player championship Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024 at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

High school football teams around the United States have been dealing with a lack of players, leading to the suspension of seasons and forfeiture of games during the year.

Iowa high school football is included in that, as a handful of programs called off their planned varsity seasons before the year even kicked off. 

The latest to call a game at halftime, though, is a defending state champion.

Remsen St. Mary’s High School, one of the more dominant programs in Iowa high school football for the past several years, won the eight-player state championship last fall with a perfect 13-0 season. But this past Friday night, the injury-riddled Hawks were forced to call an end to their district game vs. St. Edmond at the half.

Remsen St. Mary's, the defending 8-player state champions, forfeits at the half to @SEGaels, 36-0. #iahsfb

— Dana Becker (@DanaBecker) September 13, 2025

After starting the game with just 13 healthy players, Remsen St. Mary’s saw three more hit the bench before the first half ended with injuries. Eight concluded the half on the field, as two freshmen stood on the sidelines.

Once the intermission concluded, coaches for the Hawks met with the officials and ultimately called the game due to a concern over player safety. 

Remsen St. Mary’s is now 0-3 on the year after losing just six total games from 2018-2024.

Remsen St. Mary’s Could have Their Season in Jeopardy

As mentioned, the Hawks lost just six times from the start of the 2018 season through last year. That includes a 35-2 run the last two years and three perfect seasons with multiple state championships.

But even last year, the roster featured just 21 players total. Of those 21, though, 10 were seniors who moved on. This year, Remsen St. Mary’s has one senior and two juniors on the active roster, with the rest being sophomores and freshmen.

In terms of the BEDS for the year, Remsen St. Mary’s as a high school boasts just 32 students in grades 9-11. BEDS stands for Basic Educational Data Survey, as it is used for a number of reasons including education research.

The school district has constantly been near the bottom in terms of enrollment, but it has not kept them from competing at a high level in several sports - including football.

As of right now, Remsen St. Mary’s is scheduled to travel to Kingsley-Pierson this coming Friday night for another district game. They also have games with Harris-Lake Park, Newell-Fonda and North Iowa on the upcoming docket.

One district team, Siouxland Christian, has already canceled its season.