GULL LAKE, MI (WTVB) – The Coldwater football program suddenly has an unexpected opening on their 2026 football schedule.
The Gull Lake High School varsity football season has been canceled before playing a single game, following a sudden decision made by the players themselves.
The Blue Devils were scheduled to play at Coldwater on Thursday September 2, in week two of the high school season.
In an email notification sent to families, interim head coach Josh Cunningham revealed that a group of varsity players met to voice significant concerns regarding their personal safety, low player numbers, and their overall confidence in the team’s ability to compete successfully this year.
According to updates from MLive, the Blue Devils officially pulled the plug on the 2026 varsity schedule, choosing to dissolve the team for the year despite earlier administrative efforts to keep the season on track under interim leadership.
This abrupt cancellation comes on the heels of a turbulent summer, marked by separate ongoing investigations by the Michigan State Police and Gull Lake Community Schools into an alleged assault involving team members at a summer camp in Oceana County in June.
The fallout from the incident had already led the school district to place head coach Jalon Simpson on paid administrative leave in July. While school officials and law enforcement have released few specifics due to privacy laws protecting minors, Superintendent Drew Bordner emphasized that student safety remains the top priority, confirming that while the varsity schedule is dead, the junior varsity team will still proceed with its season.
Coldwater head football Jeff Schorfhaar said today the Cardinals are now actively seeking an opponent for that September 2 slot on the schedule.
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