Football season ends with silence instead of cheers for some high schools

CLOVER, S.C. — The gates are locked, and the stands were empty Friday night at Memorial Stadium in Clover.

The Clover High School Blue Eagles were supposed to host the Nation Ford High School Falcons out of Fort Mill.

Players found out Wednesday the game was called off due to positive COVID-19 cases connected with Nation Ford High.

“It was really difficult from a personal standpoint,” said Michael Allen, head coach at Nation Ford High.

>> Have questions about the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the Carolinas? We have an entire section dedicated to coverage of the pandemic -- CLICK HERE FOR MORE.

The matchup was a make-up game, which made it harder on everyone.

The Clover-Nation Ford game was canceled once before at the beginning of the season when Clover High’s team had COVID-19 concerns following one of its games.

That’s been the story in 2020 of high school football in South Carolina.

COVID-19 took a wrecking ball to the season as it did with so many other things in our lives.

“This is like a life lesson for these kids,” said Bailey Jackson, the athletic director at Clover High. “You know, sometimes you can’t control things that you have no say in.”

Over the summer, the South Carolina High School league decided on a seven-game season and enforced strict controls on practices, game attendance and the use of locker rooms.

COVID-19 made those efforts a challenge.

Jackson said he saw it early on, along with many other leaders and coaches in high school sports.

“If our teams become COVID-19 positive, or even one person, then it kind of shuts down a whole team,” he said.

A list of all area football programs indicated that none played the entire shortened seven-game season, which was cut from 10 games.

Lancaster High School played only four games before the school was shut down for two weeks due to COVID-19 cases and 35 people in quarantine.

Nation Ford, Northwestern and Clover managed to play five games, while other schools played six.

Allen felt badly for the seniors, who were playing in their final year and trying to earn scholarships to play at the next level.

“My heart broke for those guys,” Allen said. “We’re gonna work with them and help them.”

Nation Ford High is done for the season but hopeful that Friday night, football will make a comeback.

“We’re gonna take the positives away from it, and we’re gonna go ahead and start looking at the 2021 campaign,” Allen said.

High schools are turning their attention to basketball. Tryouts were going on at many schools this week. Right now, they expect to continue with limited seating for fans, to separate games by at least two days and to focus on regional games because of less travel.

No one has a crystal ball to predict the future, but athletic directors are moving forward, hoping to compete in winter and spring sports with few interruptions.

High school junior finds unique way to bring joy to classmates High school junior finds unique way to bring joy to classmates

Cox Media Group