Bill Crothers is a retired middle distance runner from Markham, Ontario. He competed for Canada in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

At the peak of his career, he was the Canadian record holder in all distances from the 400 to the 1500 meters.

Bill Crothers Secondary School — in Unionville, Ontario — is named for the athlete, but it’s a school with few fans in the Mahoning Valley this week after Crothers officials stiffed Austintown Fitch on a scheduled Week 8 football game.

Fitch athletic director Rob Conklin is exploring his options, but there may not be one for the Falcons.

Crothers — the school — notified Fitch on Tuesday that the Colts wouldn’t be crossing the border for an Oct. 17 game at Fitch Falcon Stadium. In addition, Crothers also decided not to play a scheduled freshman game against Fitch set for Oct. 16.

“We were contacted Tuesday afternoon and informed that their administration would not allow the team to travel and play due to a ‘rash of injuries,’ ” Conklin wrote in an email on Thursday. “Needless to say, we are very disappointed in this decision and are actively seeking replacements for these games. As of this moment we have not been successful.”

Crothers (2-2) was coming off a 57-3 victory over winless King City on Oct. 3.

It wasn’t clear if the “rash of injuries” came in that game or in practice, but they did not prevent the Colts from playing a scheduled game Thursday at home against Huron Heights. The Warriors beat Crothers, 32-17, according to published reports.

When you’ve been coaching as long as Fitch’s Phil Annarella has, there will eventually be a first time for everything. The veteran coach has never had an opponent back out of a game like this.

“Not this late in the season, no,” Annarella said. “They called us just a couple of days ago. It’s incredible. Just unbelievable.”

Annarella waited as long as he could before delivering the news to his players.

“They’re down,” he said. “They didn’t want to hear that. But that’s life. You’re going to deal with disappointments your entire life.”

Annarella said Conklin has worked the phones to try to find a replacement for Crothers. The coach said an official from the Ohio High School Athletic Association told Fitch the point may be moot.

“It may be too late,” Annarella said. “One of the assistants down there told Rob it might be too late in the season, so [a game against a replacement opponent] wouldn’t count anyway.”

Annarella dreams of a day when scheduling won’t be such a problem for the Falcons. Maybe that will be as soon as next year, when Fitch becomes a member of the All-American Conference in football. The Falcons currently compete in the AAC in all sports except football.

“That’s the issue when you’re independent,” Annarella said. “It’s tough to schedule.”

Maybe one day Crothers will be able to relate.

How easy will it be for the Colts to schedule American teams — especially in northeastern Ohio — when word gets out school officials bailed on Fitch less than two weeks before a game?

What goes around tends to come around, even if it has to cross the border.

Write Vindicator Sports Editor Ed Puskas at epuskas@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @EdPuskas_Vindy.