No amount of cheering from the crowd could help the Pirates at their Homecoming game last month. A paltry 16 players suited up to face a 40-man force from Cascade Christian High School. Some Vashon players would later describe going onto the field as scary. By halftime, they were down 49-0.

Such has been the season for Vashon High School’s football team. With 20 players on the roster, the Pirates have frequently faced teams with nearly twice their numbers and have been hard pressed to pull off a win, even against squads less talented than Cascade Christian, which is expected to win State this year.

The state of the football program — which has been small and nearly winless for a few years now —  has led some parents to raise concerns about safety. Others are brainstorming how to renew interest in football on Vashon.

“They don’t realize we could be a good team if we got more dedication from everyone,” said Luke Larson, a freshman, during a weekly football dinner last week.

Sitting at round tables at the Vashon High School cafeteria on Thursday, several Pirate players described how playing football this season has been fun, but also frustrating. At that time, the Pirates had won just one of their eight matchups. Crowds at games have been small, and students have even poked fun at them at school.

“It’s been a rollercoaster,” said senior Eli Hudson. “There have been some times when we have been feeling pretty down.”

Vashon’s football team has historically not been known for winning, but the boys on this year’s team believe they’d have a better shot with a larger roster. With 20 players (a few more started the season but dropped out), the current football team is smaller than in any year since 2001, which is as far back as the school district provided participation numbers. Football participation peaked in the 2009-2010 school year, when 47 boys signed up to play.

Those involved with the team say that with such small numbers, it’s nearly impossible to play a scrimmage or have full offensive and defensive lines, much less a bench to sub players out and prevent fatigue. Senior Nate Lawson said he has been on the field for all but just a few downs this season. Other players described being tired and bruised at the end of games.

“Every game is a fight for every one of those guys,” Lawson said.

More don’t play football, the boys speculate, because they’re not interested in joining a losing team, or perhaps because they want to focus on other sports. But several players also said they believe concerns over injury — concussions in particular — have kept some from picking up the pigskin.

“I’ve talked to people who are playing lacrosse and not football because of that,” said junior Andrew Hitchcock.

In recent years the issue of concussions in sports has captured news headlines as evidence of long-term trauma caused by brain injuries in professional sports has mounted. In football, one in three NFL players is expected to suffer the effects of brain trauma brought on by repeated injuries.

On Vashon, concussions are a top concern for parents, said Cheryl Pruett, whose twin sons have played football since they were young.

“I think a lot of parents have — some of it is well-founded — fears over injuries that can happen. It’s football, not Tiddlywinks,” she said.

Pruett and other football parents said that while they do worry about injuries, they also know there’s a chance of concussion in many sports. What’s more, football coaches are now teaching players to tackle more safely —not head first — and there’s more awareness about concussions, their symptoms and the importance of not putting players back on the field after possible injury.

“A lot of the old ways of teaching football don’t exist anymore,” said Kelvin Goliday, who coaches Vashon’s football team. “There are a lot of things we don’t do now that 20 years ago was the norm.”

In fact, in 2009, Washington became the first state to pass far-reaching legislation designed to prevent brain injury in high school athletes. The law was inspired by a Tahoma High School graduate who nearly died from a concussion he suffered during a middle school football game. By 2013, all 50 states had passed similar laws.

Mike Colbrese, executive director of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, said he, too, hears that parents are concerned about concussions in football, but he hasn’t seen it impact the sport’s numbers.

Figures kept by the National Federation of State High School Associations show that participation in high school football in Washington has remained steady, hovering between 18,000 and 22,500 every year since 2002. Last school year, more than 21,000 players in the state suited up.

“I think that part of it is that the public realizes that concussions are really more than just a football issue,” Colbrese said. “I think also people realize the extra work that is being done to improve safety.”

While Colbrese couldn’t point to any specific statistics, he said that anecdotally, it’s been commonly accepted in the athletic world that other sports have similar concussion rates as football.

However, recent studies indicate that at the high school level, football does bring a greater risk for concussion than other sports. A study completed last year by the National Academy of Sciences found that in high school sports, football has by far the highest reported concussion rates for boys, followed by lacrosse, soccer and wrestling.

And according to the Centers for Disease Control, a study of traumatic brain injury among children treated in emergency rooms between 2001 and 2009 found that brain injuries — including concussions — occurred most frequently while playing football or bicycling.

At last week’s football dinner, several players said they’re aware of the risk of concussion, but they feel any sport would carry some amount of risk, and they love football.

“All of us know the fact that we might get injured at some point,” Hudson said. “That’s what dedication is.”

Parents, too, had not voiced concern about injuries until last month’s Homecoming game. At the beginning of Homecoming week, with several players out due to previous injuries, it looked as though just 11 to 13 players might be available for the big game, where they’d be going up against larger and more experienced players from Cascade Christian. Several parents said they worried that player fatigue and chances for injury would be higher, and they asked if Vashon could play Cascade Christian’s JV team instead.

One of those parents was Desiree Nelson, whose son Logan was sidelined at the time due to a concussion he suffered at the previous game — the only concussion on the team this season. No one caught Logan’s concussion on the field, Desiree said, and she only had him examined after one of his teachers called their home to say Logan had been acting strangely in class.

“There was no way I was going to let Logan play, even if he was cleared,” Nelson said of the Homecoming game, adding that at least nine other parents shared her concerns.

“We as the adults should have made that hard decision and said, ‘You know what, I don’t think it’s safe to play this game,’” she said.

Ultimately, however, Goliday and VHS Athletic Director Stephanie Spencer decided Vashon would play Cascade Christian’s varsity team as scheduled. While Goliday said he understood the parent concerns, he also explained the decision was about more than numbers. The boys who were ready to suit up were well practiced and prepared, he said, and Cascade Christian is known for being a well-trained team.

“Cascade Christian is a big school, but you have a lot less injuries with the guys who know what they’re doing,” he said.

Spencer added that playing the JV team wouldn’t necessarily equate to a safer game, as younger players may not play as safely.

In an email to football families two days before the game, Spencer said Vashon has an obligation to field a varsity team when it can do so, providing opponents the playing time they need, and said Cascade Christian’s coach was well aware of their situation.

“The intent of playing the game is not to cause harm,” she wrote. “And, I have never had any concern that this was an issue with Cascade Christian’s program.”

At the game, Cascade Christian began subbing in their JV players during the second quarter, and by the second half, only JV players were on the field. It was only then that Vashon, which fielded 16 players, was able to score two touchdowns, and the game ended in a 56-16 loss. There were no serious injuries.

“It’s kind of bittersweet,” Goliday said of the Pirates’ rough season. “I like that the guys go out and play hard with what we have. Even the refs in a couple games have said ‘I can’t believe your guys are still playing the game and playing hard.’”

A week later, the Pirates went on to win their final home game of the season, against Chimacum High School, a non-league school considered more evenly matched with Vashon.

“They have a small team, too,” Goliday said. “It’s a good match-up for us.”

Many, however, hope that picture will change for Vashon football in the coming years. Both parents and players said they believe the key to a successful high school team is starting kids early with youth football. The island has youth programs for soccer, wrestling, baseball, softball and lacrosse, but hasn’t sustained a strong youth football program since the days of Paul Wallroff, a former University of Puget Sound coach who is credited with holding the program together until about six years ago.

Last year the Bounty Club, a football booster club, sponsored a popular flag football program for elementary schoolers. They weren’t able to continue the program this year due to a lack of volunteers and disagreement over whether the kids should play flag football or contact football.

McMurray Middle School’s team just had a successful season and won its league. But parents say starting in junior high isn’t early enough.

“I think we need a youth program more than anything,” said John Cochrane, a Bounty Club member. “Start with them in elementary school … and ultimately bring them into understanding strategy and position and moves in football.”

Pruett, who volunteers for the team, said she’s made it her personal goal to help recruit more high schoolers and get the team back up to a “manageable number,” as well as to help get the youth program running again.

“I think it’s a matter of getting the kids back and into the sport and allaying a lot of parental fears,” she said. “I believe Vashon can support it if you’ve got someone up there at the top saying, ‘Hey, come on. Come play football.’”