By Ray Hamill — The Hoopa Warriors’ season opener at Fort Bragg has been canceled, it was announced on Thursday.

The Warriors were forced to pull out of the Friday night clash after injuries this week reduced their roster to just 12 players and “it did not feel like it is safe to compete,” according to assistant principal Jeff Landry.

Last week, three of the Hoopa linemen were involved in a car accident, with all three taken to hospital.

No major injuries occurred in the accident, but all three have missed practice this week and would not have been cleared to play.

That left the roster thin, and with injuries to three additional players at practice this week the Warriors have been reduced to just 12 varsity players.

“It goes without saying that the safety of our student athletes is our first priority,” said Landry, who is also an assistant coach with the team. “We are also lucky that none of the three young men involved in the car wreck sustained any major injuries and expect to return to the team soon.”

The Warriors are scheduled to host St. Bernard’s next Friday night and expect to have enough players to field a team.