For the second time this season, Dallas Gateway Charter Academy has had to forfeit a varsity football game. This time, it was Friday’s contest against Maypearl in what was supposed to be Gateway’s District 6-3A Division II opener.
“They forfeited due to a lack of players showing up to school,” Maypearl coach and athletic director Nick De La Cerda told The Dallas Morning News in an email Thursday.
In late August, Conrad gained a forfeit win when Gateway Charter had to cancel the teams’ season opener. Dave Campbell’s Texas Football reported that it was because Gateway didn’t have enough eligible players for the game.
Gateway is a Class 3A school with an enrollment of 186. Gateway has played two games this season, losing 30-6 to Kemp and losing 31-0 to Cross Roads.
For that 2025 season, Gateway walked away from and forfeited games before they were completed, and the coaching staff had not completed its required UIL training before the start of the season. Gateway also had eligibility issues with individual players.
Gateway isn’t the only school struggling with low numbers. Keene ISD announced on social media this week that it’s canceling the remainder of its 2026 varsity football season as well as the 2027 season, citing low numbers due to injuries.
Keene, located approximately 30 miles south of Fort Worth, was 1-3 in its first season of UIL district play. The school started its football program in 2021 and played an outlaw nondistrict schedule for five years.
Dave Campbell’s Texas Football was the first to report the news of Gateway’s latest forfeit.