Coahoma and Forsan games canceled this week because of COVID-19 concerns
This fall Friday night looked a little differently without all three local high school teams taking the gridiron for their usual weekly matchup.
The Big Spring Steers played their fourth game of the season on Thursday night in Lubbock against the 5A Lubbock High Westerners, who were playing their first game of the year. They lost 48-12 and now have an extended week to prepare for their next opponent.
Meanwhile, the Coahoma Bulldogs’ game against the Merkel Badgers that was scheduled for Friday night was canceled early Wednesday afternoon because of at least one confirmed case of COVID-19 on the Merkel roster.
On the other hand, the Forsan Buffaloes were forced to cancel their road trip to Reagan County on Thurday afternoon because of their own coronavirus cases.
This is a challenge that was thought about and considered heading into the season with the coronavirus still surging in some cities around the state and country. Forsan had originally attempted to quarantine their players that had gotten the virus and even called up some Junior Varsity players for practice this week to prepare for the Owls.
After a few days, Head Coach Jason Phillips decided instead to cancel Friday’s road trip.
It is not yet known whether either school will run into this issue again next week or if they will return to their normal schedule in two weeks with Coahoma playing Idalou and Forsan playing Colorado City.
Forsan has decided to go virtual for the next couple of weeks, so it looks as though they will not play once again next Friday. Across the county, Coahoma held a Homecoming Pep Rally on Friday night at Bill Easterling Memorial Stadium while following social distancing guidelines and it appears as though they have not had any COVID-19 setbacks of their own and will play next week.