Poultney will forgo the 2026 high school football season in the state of Vermont. Its players are now free to transfer to its rival.
This decision stems from a lack of athletes on the roster.
The goal is for the high school football program to return in the next few years. It would not be safe to try and play this fall.
Poultney doesn’t have enough high school football players.
Poultney High School is located in the southwestern part of the Green Mountain State right on the border of New York. Chartered in 1761, its total population hovers around 3,000 residents.
According to the U.S. News and World Report, Poultney High School enrolls less than 200 students in grades 9-12. The Blue Devils compete in Division III of the Vermont Principals’ Association. Their high school football team won only six games in the last six years, including two 0-8 seasons. It last finished with a winning record in 2019 when it won a state championship.
Things have changed since the pandemic. Participation is way down.
Poultney’s recent struggles stem from a severe lack of players. It had only 16(ish) athletes in total on the roster last season. That essentially meant that six players had to play the entire game on both sides of the ball. There were only five substitutes.
Technically speaking, the governing body of high school sports in Vermont does not have a minimum requirement for total number of players on a team. It could be as few as 11. That decision is left to the schools. According to Poultney athletic director Marc Dudsak, a school needs 20-25 players to safely field a varsity football program.
The Blue Devils do not have 20-25 players on the roster for 2026. As a result of the roster issues, as first reported by Nathaniel Wilson, Poultney High School decided to forgo the 2026 football season. The district will instead focus on building its middle school roster to eventually feed into the high school. It hopes for a return of the varsity program in a few years.
Athletes are allowed to play for a rival program!
In past years, football players from West Ruthland and Proctor played for Poultney because neither high school had a team of its own. That is not possible in 2026 because the Blue Devils are not going to play.
Therefore, any high school football player from West Ruthland, Proctor and Poultney who wants to compete in 2026 will be allowed to do so at Fair Haven. Fair Haven, located ~7 miles up the road from Poultney, is one of Poultney’s biggest rivals.
Per Wilson, only rising Poultney senior Kole Lynch decided to make the move. He grew up playing youth football with most of the Fair Haven kids until they were split off by district zoning. Now he will join the rival program for his last year of high school.
If the Blue Devils are not able to return to the gridiron in future years, this could be a permanent arrangement. It would be students from West Ruthland, Proctor, Poultney and Fair Haven on the same team.