COVID-19 cancellations shake up scholastic football schedule

Sep. 10—Week 3 of the high school football season was filled with uncertainty, twists and turns on Thursday.

None of the action occurred on the field.

Instead, the COVID-19 pandemic created a flurry of schedule changes in the area and throughout the state ahead of this weekend's slate of games.

Two area contests were canceled. One of those was rescheduled against another opponent, only to be canceled later in the afternoon. Then, two area teams filled the void by playing each other.

"It's the new lay of the land of high school football," said North Star coach Bob Landis, who had this week's game against visiting Conemaugh Valley canceled, then apparently found a replacement opponent only to have that Hughesville team cancel hours later, before finally securing a date with conference rival Windber.

"You never know what variable you will be dealt each week.

"It teaches your kids to be very resilient. You spend two or three days practicing for a team.

"Then you go in and put in a generic game plan and see what happens."

Thursday began with the cancellation of a much-anticipated rivalry game between undefeated Windber and host Conemaugh Township due to a COVID-19 situation at Township.

Windber coach Matt Grohal said the Ramblers spent most of the morning and afternoon unsuccessfully trying to find an opponent. As the options dwindled, the Ramblers and Cougars emerged as a match, even though they also are scheduled to play in Week 8.

Earlier in the day, Landis and North Star Athletic Director Stacy Schmitt tentatively reached an agreement to play District 4 Hughesville on Friday in Boswell.

"We were calling schools all day. We were trying everywhere," Schmitt said. "It felt like we made a thousand calls. Berlin was on the line with Hughesville and told them they had a game, but that North Star was looking."

Hughesville had its scheduled game against Wellsboro canceled and appeared to be the Cougars' opponent after the phone call, Schmitt said.

But later in the afternoon, Landis said, "Hughesville is off. They just canceled."

When asked why, Landis said, "Probably because it's 190 miles (driving distance) each way."

That's when the calls between Windber and Boswell took on added significance, eventually resulting in an agreement for the Ramblers to play Friday at North Star.

Conemaugh Valley opened the season at a deceiving 0-2 playing WestPAC powers Windber and Berlin Brothersvalley. The Blue Jays were hoping a Week 3 date in North Star could provide a fresh start.

Instead, Conemaugh Valley is contending with a COVID-19 situation that has led to a significant number of quarantines throughout the school district, administrators said.

Conemaugh Valley Athletic Director Paula McCleester said on Wednesday that the Blue Jays still hoped to play this weekend.

But Thursday, she said, "We had to cancel our game due to quarantines associated with COVID issues."

Conemaugh Valley had reversed a trend of low numbers in recent seasons after forming a co-op with former rival Ferndale Area last year. But the pandemic caused those numbers to dwindle in the past week.

"We have a ton of kids on quarantine. It keeps changing all the time," Conemaugh Valley coach Matt Kent said. "I was under the assumption, if they were wearing their masks to school, they wouldn't have quarantine.

"Now they're quarantining everybody.

"We have five kids from our football team who aren't quarantined. We do have two that I know that tested positive for COVID-19.

"Everybody else is just quarantined whether it's because they're in the same class as someone."

Undefeated Berlin Brothersvalley initially planned to take a bye in Week 3 after losing its game against Bishop Carroll Catholic when the Huskies joined a co-op with Bishop McCort Catholic during preseason camp.

But Mountaineers coach Doug Paul, who also is the District 5 school's athletic director, had a change of heart when he saw games across the state being canceled throughout the week.

Berlin managed to secure a date at 2-0 Mount Union, a District 6 school.

"We have some guys banged up, some guys who are out," Paul said.

"We were going to take a bye week, but hearing what happened around the state and teams losing games, you don't know how much football there is to be played."

Paul said once word spread of Berlin's decision to seek an opponent, several options emerged.

"In 15 minutes, we had four phone calls with four schools and we took the first one," Paul said of Mount Union.

Paul said he referred Hughesville to North Star and also told callers about Windber searching for a game.

Windber is 2-0 and was set to face Conemaugh Township, a 1-1 team coming off a big win at North Star.

"My heart breaks for all the kids," Conemaugh Township coach Tony Penna Jr. said. "I feel bad for all the kids in the band, the cheerleaders, all the people who are a part of Friday nights.

"It's definitely a night we share."

Penna said Conemaugh Township had 28 players at practice on Tuesday.

But as of Thursday morning, the coach said 12 players were out, including eight linemen, due to either positive tests or contact-tracing quarantine.

"As great a team as Windber is and the challenges they present, we were really excited to play them on our home turf," Penna said. "I feel they're a team that has a chance to go real deep into the state playoffs. We were really excited about that.

"This is just devastating. I feel so bad not just for my kids, but for the Windber kids. This is so unfair and so random. I really commend the administration at Conemaugh Township for making such a tough decision."

Windber attempted to find another opponent throughout Thursday before finally setting the date at neighboring North Star.

"It's very frustrating," Grohal said Thursday morning. "We as coaches, parents, schools and communities have to do better and take every precaution so that our seasons can continue."

In fact, Grohal addressed the same topic on Wednesday night during an interview for a preview article originally planned for Friday's newspaper.

"We're all battling COVID issues," Grohal said Wednesday night. "Hopefully things can get turned around.

"We're holding our breath week to week. Everybody's got to do their part. I tell our kids you've got to mask up and do everything you can to make sure we can keep this season going. Coaches and parents, everybody's got to do their part."

"I tell the kids to enjoy it," Grohal said. "You never know when it might end."

Mike Mastovich is a sports reporter and columnist for The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at 814-532-5083. Follow him on Twitter{/em} @Masty81.

{em}Mike Mastovich is a sports reporter and columnist for The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at (814) 532-5083. Follow him on Twitter @Masty81.