Not even a pandemic can stop this August tradition
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Burgettstown football coach Mark Druga works during a water break in practice to disinfect equipment being used by the players.
Holly Tonini/For the Observer-Reporter
Ringgold coaches made sure blocking pads and shields were cleaned during player transitions.
Charleroi's Dyelan Edwards carries trash cans for a practice exercise.
To play or not to play, that is the question.
The subject of playing fall sports, particularly high school and college football, during the COVID-19 pandemic was kicked down the road all summer. From the governor to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, to college presidents, to the PIAA, to local school boards, the buck was passed.
Who knew pass-the-buck season was going to be as popular as deer-hunting season?
College presidents in the Big Ten, Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, Presidents’ Athletic Conference and several other leagues with members within the state decided there will be no football this fall. More than 50 college football programs in Pennsylvania have been impacted. There are plans for each to attempt to play a season in the spring.
The eerie silence this fall from Penn State’s Beaver Stadium – the largest sports venue in the state – will be deafening. No football will be a significant financial hit for Penn State and businesses in the State College area.
The Atlantic Coast Conference, along with the Big 12 and Southeastern Conference, intend to play.
That means Pitt and West Virginia are forging ahead. That’s good news for Pitt, which is primed for what could be its best season under head coach Pat Narduzzi. West Virginia should be improved in head coach Neal Brown’s second season.
The NFL also intends to play, though it canceled all preseason games. So if you liked attending preseason games at regular-season prices and watching third-stringers play, then you’re out of luck this year.
As for the high schools, thousands of players and coaches across the state were left in limbo for much of the summer, not knowing if there will be a season to play. Offseason programs were shut down, then restarted with coaches and players following mandated guidelines for social distancing, face coverings and disinfecting of equipment. At some schools, because players were not allowed inside the building, coaches carried weights and equipment outside for a makeshift weightlifting station. Others simply made do with whatever could be found, such as tractor tires, which players flipped or carried across the field.
In late July, the PIAA announced that it was proceeding with falls sports as scheduled and approved a set of guidelines for each sport. The WPIAL went a step further and moved back the start of fall sports and trimmed the football season to seven weeks with a Sept. 11 start date. Players and coaches rejoiced. There would be a season.
Gov. Tom Wolf then said he recommended high school and youth sports not be played until January. Wolf made the comment at the end of a news conference for a separate subject, quickly exited the room before followup questions could be asked and later issued a news release in which he described the recommendation as a necessary precaution to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The PIAA said it was “blindsided” by Gov. Wolf’s recommendation though, according to pennlive.com, both parties had been in discussion about high school sports for weeks.
The PIAA finally announced, again, in mid-August, that fall sports will be played. Pennsylvania was the last state in the country to make a decision about playing, delaying or cancelling fall sports.
At the Observer-Reporter, we had decided long before mid-August that we were going to produce our annual football edition. The players had spent too many days in the 90-degree heat of summer preparing for the season to be overlooked. Whether the season was going to be played or not, the O-R was determined to produce its 44th annual football edition, a sign that summer is indeed winding down.
We hope you keep this preview close by for the entire football season. This editor, along with The Almanac’s Eleanor Bailey, Rob Burchianti from our sister publication the Uniontown Herald-Standard, John Sacco and Bill Hughes, have been busy writing about each area team so that you can be ready for the start of the season. And we have some interesting photos of summer workouts captured by Holly Tonini and Mark Marietta.
There’s a lot we don’t know about how the high school football season will play out. What quality the football will be, and how long the season will last, nobody knows for sure. Will fans be allowed to attend the games?
There are concerns. As of this writing, Mt. Lebanon’s scrimmage against Upper St. Clair and the Blue Devils’ season-opening game against Baldwin have been canceled because of a positive COVID-19 test. Stay tuned because these might not be the only contests scrapped.
As for the quality of play, Canon-McMillan head coach Mike Evans is one who wonders what kind of impact a summer without 7-on-7 competitions and fewer preseason practices will have on the level of play when the season begins.
“This will be the most ill-prepared teams have ever been,” Evans said. “We lost half of our summer. We’ll have fewer padded practices than ever before. No two-a-days. And how much of the practices are going to be live? The good thing is, everybody is in the same boat. We’re all trying to figure it out. It’s all part of the weird COVID year.”
Even if the teams might need a few extra practices to prepare for what promises to be an exciting season, the best way for you to get ready is by reading this football edition.
Enjoy.
Observer-Reporter sports editor Chris Dugan can be reached at dugan@observer-reporter.com.