For the island’s student-athletes, September means not only the start of school, but the start of a new season of sports.

That season began Friday when the Vashon High School varsity football team took on Forks High School at the season opener and the first sporting event of the academic year. But the game left much to be desired for island fans as the small band of Pirates — only 16 were eligible and healthy enough to suit up — lost 68-0.

“It got away from us from the beginning,” head football coach Clay Eastly said Sunday, explaining that the team’s two running backs, senior Connor Hoisington and sophomore Richard Rivas-Gutierrez, are out with injuries. “That made it difficult to run the offense. We were missing key guys.”

Of the 16 who played, 14 played both offense and defense — a tiring gauntlet for the still-young team that features only six seniors.

“These kids are going to be playing both sides; that’s not a lot of rest,” Eastly said.

As the Pirates dealt with fatigue and key players injured, the Forks Spartans came out strong and never even saw a fourth-down attempt in Friday’s game. According to the Peninsula Daily News, the Spartans’ senior wide-receiver Cole Baysinger totalled 230 rushing yards and three touchdowns while junior running back Tristen Pisani gathered another 160 yards and three touchdowns. Forks benched their starting offensive line in the second half.

And while the game got away from the Pirates from the very beginning, Forks head coach Emil West told the Daily News “everything was working” on their side.

For the Pirates, Eastly said the highlight of Friday’s game was that no one was injured. He added that more players will be able to suit up as the season progresses. He said that by third week of play, all 29 Pirates should be able to suit up.

The team is coming off a disappointing season last year that saw the young Pirates finish the 10-game season with a 1-9 record. Eastly was hired only two weeks before the start of the season last year. This year, he remains optimistic about the team moving forward.

“We have a lot of the same players (as last year) and a good mix of new players. They had the chance to do summer practices, and a lot hit the weight room over the summer, and they’re looking bigger and stronger,” he said. “I predict that as long as we stay healthy and eligible, we should be a very competitive team this year.”

The Pirates will play another non-league game against Bothell’s Cedar Park Christian at 7 p.m. Friday at Lake Washington High School in Kirkland.

But before that, VHS’ other fall sports will begin. On Thursday, the boys’ tennis team will start its season with an away game at Charles Wright Academy at 3:30 p.m. The team will then come home for a round-robin tournament with Puyallup, Kentwood and Emerald Ridge high schools at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Head coach Pat Mulvihill said his goal for the season is not to focus on winning or losing — there are only two other teams in Vashon’s league — but to measure success by “how much we improve as players and as a team.”

Last year, the team was young, and the season did not go great, Mulvihill said. But, the entire team is back this year with more experience, and his hopes are high.

The VHS volleyball team will also travel Thursday to Port Townsend High School for a 6:15 p.m. game to kick off its season.

Meanwhile, the VHS girls’ soccer team is preparing for its season, but is having difficulty getting players eligible for a game. Players are required to attend at least 10 practices before playing, and the team’s head coach, Scott Nicolino, said summer vacations have made that impossible. The girls were supposed to play games on Saturday, Sept. 2; Tuesday and Thursday, but will not play their first game until this Saturday.

The Pirates are coming off a successful year that saw the girls go to the first round of the state tournament in 2016. The team lost eight seniors to graduation, and this year’s team is young with only three seniors, Nicolino said. But he believes the team has “a good core” and if everyone stays healthy, he could see at least a trip to the district tournament, if not State again.

He also wants to focus on the team’s offense.

“I want to score more goals,” he said, explaining that aside from one game against Charles Wright Academy last year where the team scored five goals, the girls averaged less than one goal per game.

The girls’ first game will be at home at 1 p.m. Saturday against University Prep.

Looking ahead, next week the boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams will travel to their first meet at Fort Steilacoom at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 12.