Edmonson County defensive back Chase Elkins prevents Butler County receiver Daltyn Havens from catching a touchdown pass during Edmonson County's win over Butler County on Friday, Aug. 25, 2017, at Edmonson County. (Austin Anthony/photo@bgdailynews.com)

Butler County’s football team will move its two remaining home games off campus because of poor field conditions at Butler County Stadium and concern for player safety.

Moles and an invasion of as many as 10 skunks have dug up holes throughout the field and on the sidelines that have created safety concerns, Bears coach Ryan Emmick said Thursday.

Homecoming against Todd County Central on Oct. 19 has been moved to Warren East High School.

Senior night against Ohio County on Oct. 27 has been flipped to an Ohio County home game.

“It’s a big issue for us and we’ve had a ton of players’ injuries this year and those injuries have occurred on our home field,” Emmick said. “Looking back at it and looking at the condition of the field, I can’t in my own mind put our kids back on that field because we’ve got to keep them safe.

“We’ve been placing Band-Aids and Band-Aids on the field without doing any major renovations to it. When you have a situation like this that’s very odd and very unique, you reach a situation where you just can’t play on it anymore.

“We are greatly appreciative of Warren County Superintendent (Rob) Clayton, the administration at Warren East and everyone involved to let us use their field next Thursday.”

It’s an issue that’s already piled on to a rough season for the Bears, who sit at 0-7 with three games remaining.

As one of two revenue sports (basketball) that financially support Butler County’s athletic programs, losing the last two home games is the difference of about $10,000, Emmick said.

The Bears already had a significant gate drop when it moved a game against Russellville to Saturday back in September due to heavy rain. Now they’ll lose the two largest home crowds of the year between homecoming and senior night.

Emmick said Warren East is allowing Butler County to keep any gate revenue but isn’t sure yet how that will work at Ohio County.

“It hurts,” Emmick said. “Being a small county, we’ve only got two revenue sports that help finance the rest of the program. We’re looking to take a step back and look at budgets, look at the money we have to spend to make adjustments in the future because that major revenue stream is gone. (Homecoming and senior night) are things you plan for and now all of a sudden, they’re gone.”

It also hurts the middle school team, which was scheduled to host a state playoff game. Even a junior pro football year-end bowl game could change locations.

The long-term solution is completely reworking the field with plans of putting down Bermuda grass and rebuilding the crown of the field. Emmick said cuts from state funding on top of losing gate money from home games will make the restoration process quite challenging.

“This is going to have to be a community effort and community support,” Emmick said. “With budget cuts across the state, money is a struggle. In Butler County, we don’t have the tax base to pull from or that extra allotment of cash sitting there. Any cuts that come from the state directly impact programs like football.

“I feel horrible for our seniors. One of the things you look forward to is walking on the field one last time and they’ve lost that. That’s something they’re going to miss out on.”{&end}