The swine-flu striken Ashland High football team may have to forfeit Friday's Southern Sky Conference opener against Crater.

I asked AHS athletic director Karl Kemper about it today and here's his e-mail reply:

"As of yesterday we had 22 kids out sick, 14 of 18 starters. We cancelled practice yesterday and today. Our plan would be to start from the “bottom up” cancelling frosh football first and trying to piece together 2 teams, then JV and so on. I can’t give you a timeline for a decision on Friday’s game . . . We will assess whether we can put together a team to safely compete at the varsity level and make the best choice for the health of our kids."