Parkland suspended; Whitehall-Becahi canceled
Positive COVID-19 cases throwing schedule back into state of disarray
The Colonial League no longer has a monopoly on area scholastic football being negatively affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
On Friday, the Bethlehem Catholic-Whitehall football gamewascanceled by issues related to COVID-19, and it was confirmed that Parkland’s varsity and junior varsity programs are on hold until Oct. 2.
TheWhitehall-Coplay School District announced Thursday night on its website that due to two confirmed positive cases and two presumed positive cases of COVID-19 within one week, the district, in conjunction with guidance from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, closed the high school to students for five days through Tuesday.
OnFriday morning, it announced that Whitehall’s home varsity football game against Bethlehem Catholic had been canceled.
It was a nonleague game both schools agreed to add to the schedule after the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference decided on a five-game schedule set to start the first weekend in October.
It was supposed to be Whitehall’s second game of the season after a 34-13 loss to Allentown Central Catholic on Sept. 18.
Whitehall also announced the postponements of field hockey girls and boys soccer games against Allen, set to be held Friday and Saturday, and it moved other fall sports events.
Golden Hawks athletic director Chris Domyan said he immediately contacted Bangor, which was also did not have an opponent after a coronavirus case forced Northwestern Lehigh to cancel its Colonial League opener scheduled against the Slaters on Friday night.
After a brief back-and-forth, a game between Becahi and Bangor has been scheduled for 3 p.m. on Saturday at Bangor Memorial Park. It will be the opener for both teams and believed to be the first time they have metsince 1992, whentheGolden Hawksbeat the Slaters 28-7 for the District 11 3A title.
Becahi coach Joe Henrich had talked about being prepared for cancellations
and other last-minute changes during an unprecedented period of uncertainty. Even two days out, he wasn’t 100% sure the game would be played.
“The reality is you have to be honest with your kids andtell themthat wedon’t know what we’re going to get,” Henrich said earlier this week. “All we can do is continue to plug away.
“We’re cautiously optimistic we’re going to get to play on Friday. I haven’t heard anything, but then again we were supposed to scrimmage Saucon Valley last week and I didn’t know that was going to get canceled either.
“It’s literally a day-by-day, minute-tominute situation.”
Meanwhile, Parkland’s preparations for the start of the season have also been put on hold.
Trojans athletic director Bill Dreisbach confirmed previous media reports that an email had been sent out by the school district notifying parents that a person associated with the football program has tested positive for COVID-19.
The email said the person was last at the high school Sept. 15 and attended football practice two days later.
Dreisbach said all varsity football and junior varsity activities will be shut down until Oct. 2.
That’s the scheduled date of the Trojans’ season opener against visiting Allentown Central Catholic. It’s a much-anticipated game, with both teams state-ranked and considered to be among the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference’s best.
Dreisbach said that gamewill likely be moved, possibly to Oct. 5, if things can be worked out between the two schools. If that gameis moved, headded, the Whitehall-Parkland game, scheduled for Oct. 9, would be moved back one day to allow more time between games.
“But all of that has not been finalized,” Dreisbach said. “We’re trying to work through this to get all five [Eastern Pennsylvania Conference] gamesscheduled at some point.”
Parkland joins several other area schools in having to halt activities due to COVID-19 cases. Southern Lehigh, Pen
Argyl, Northwestern Lehigh and Saucon Valley have all had to cancel games as a result of COVID-19 cases.
The delayed, five-game EPC football schedule is slated to begin Thursday night, with Allen visiting Emmaus. Friday night’s games include Becahi at Nazareth, Northampton at Freedom, Stroudsburg at East Stroudsburg North, Pocono Mountain West at East Stroudsburg South and Pleasant Valley at Pocono Mountain East.
Easton-Liberty and Dieruff-Whitehall are set for Saturday night.
The PIAA announced earlier this week that all fall sports events are to be concluded by Thanksgiving weekend to allow a time buffer prior to the start of winter sports competition Dec. 10. The final scheduled event of the fall will be the state football championships Nov. 27 and 28.
The District 11 committee will vote Wednesday whether to forgo sending teams into the state tournament and play only a District 11 tournament that would end the weekend of Nov. 20 and 21.