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SAN DIEGO – Point Loma High School has canceled the remainder of its varsity football season citing a lack of players on the roster.

Point Loma High School varsity football coach Joel Allen talks to FOX 5 on Tuesday, March 23, 2021.

The decision announced Tuesday by head coach Joel Allen comes as the team has fewer than two dozen players remaining on its roster, down from nearly 90 back in September. That number was whittled down to about 40 when practice began two weeks ago.

Many students on the team play multiple sports with the majority opting to play a full season of baseball and lacrosse this spring, Allen said.

“Football is the ultimate team game and we preach that all the time,” he said. “This decision was not necessarily best for every individual on the team. This was best, in our opinion, for the collective group and the team. I hope they’re excited, but I also understand they’re probably bummed and upset.”

The Pointers opened their season last week with a 64-0 loss to Lincoln High School.

Point Loma’s freshman and JV programs are scheduled to continue this year with the varsity team planning to resume play next season.

“We’re going to take the kids that are still sticking around,” Allen said. “We have maybe 28-30 kids that still want to be a part of it and they’re not playing other sports and are still willing to make the sacrifice and play baseball and football. We’re going to do our best to coach them.”

He added, “We love the game of football. All of us coaches are not doing it for any other reason than we love the sport and whether it be juniors and seniors or whether it’s mostly freshmen and sophomores and some juniors, we’re going to coach the best way we know possible and take these next 3-4 weeks and have it be a positive experience so we can build on what is coming up quickly in 2021 with a full season in a few months.”