Some prep football teams frustrated
With the start of high school football a week away for most teams in Tennessee, there are programs where patience is the optimal word as some school systems have delayed the start of the 2020 season.
Nashville's Metro schools are delayed until after Labor Day.
Montgomery County's school system won't allow football games in Clarksville until Sept. 4 at the earliest. Houston County has delayed the start of all fall sports indefinitely.
Shelby County postponed its football games until after Labor Day and Memphis area schools are barred from contact practices until after the holiday. Games wouldn't start until at least Sept. 18.
The uncertainty is beginning to take its toll.
“To me I feel it is unfair, especially when it's my senior year,” East Nashville senior Rontavious Gregory said. “Personally, I feel it's not understandable. COVID-19 is affecting all areas, but as a senior, that's something we all as seniors have to deal with. We all have the same consequence held against us. But me personally, I feel missing three games shouldn't be the case.”
School systems have relied on local and the state health departments to guide their decision-making.
While most school systems allowed programs to resume athletic activities in June, many waited. Clarksville area public schools didn't begin athletic workouts until after the dead period on July 6.
School systems also consider the risk of its players competing in games without proper preparation. It was the biggest reason CMCSS chose to delay fall sports until Aug. 31 with football games beginning Sept. 4.
But as other schools are on track for an Aug. 21 start time, coaches are expressing a dissatisfaction with that competitive disadvantage.
“My biggest concern is having to wait three weeks to get a game in,” Montgomery Central coach Jeff Tomlinson said. “My Week 3 opponent is Portland. That's a (Region 6-4A) game and Portland will be going into a game against us with two games under their belt. It'll be my team's first.”
To mitigate that disadvantage, Tomlinson said he plans to hold team scrimmages on Aug. 21 and 28, simulating a full four-quarter game both weeks.
“We'll have 12-minute quarters, we'll have our yard-markers out,” he said. “Coaches will serve as referees. It'll start at 7 p.m. and it'll be played just like a game.”
Cane Ridge coach Eddie Woods is trying to keep perspective.
“I think it's tough for a kid,” Woods said. “They want to be playing. If it can be played, they want to be playing. For me, I feel for the kids. It's kind of unfair what is going on, but they are eager to play.”
With Metro schools delayed, Pearlcohn coach Tony Brunetti has not given out any football equipment to his team.
“You can't do anything,” Brunetti said. “You have to use common sense. I tell my kids, ‘We're not looking for the short haul, we're looking at the long haul.'”
Brunetti isn't concerned who is making the decision but that the ultimate decision ends with games being played in Davidson County.
“One thing about kids, they all know who (Nashville) Mayor (John) Cooper is,” he said. “Mayor Cooper doesn't play. It is what it is. They know that. As long as they have games down the line, they are going to be OK.”
Ridgeway coach Duron Sutton's uncertainty about the season in Shelby County is echoed from coaches throughout the state.
“That's just what's on the table right now,” Sutton said. “We really don't know if we're going to be getting started after Labor Day or not.”
Sutton said Ridgeway coaches were scheduled to be on a conference call with the school system Thursday.
“Hopefully we'll get some good news because we're actually trying to get it moved up the week before so we can get our acclimation period done so we can get started playing games by the 18th.”
Programs whose school systems are in delay also deal with questions of whether it's viable for their athletes to transfer to schools that aren't currently delayed.
“My whole goal is for the kids to have a chance to play,” Woods added. “I won't try to hold kids back if they want to do that. Hopefully, we'll be able to play and everything will work out.”
While coaches scramble to get players ready for their first games, the loss of Weeks 1 and 2 has thrown schedules out of whack. Clarksville schools are allowed to reschedule one of their two canceled games. Most in the city are choosing to reschedule for Oct. 16 — a bye week for nearly all of the city's public schools.
The Clarksville-rossview game — the city's biggest rivalry — is still a work in progress. The non-region game was originally scheduled for the season opener, but It would have to be rescheduled for Oct. 16, during fall break. Clarksville coach Isaac Shelby has expressed difficulty in securing that date because of players' family vacation plans.
Sutton doesn't believe his team will be able to reschedule missed games.
““I don't think so,” he said. “I think those games will just have to be missed.”
Northwest's first two games — Hunters Lane and Greenbrier — are off the table. It's unlikely the Vikings can schedule either team for Oct. 16, leaving coach Neil Furnish with a possible eight-game schedule.
“I'm on Plan Z at this point,” Furnish said. “We've been moving to new plans almost weekly since May. We're no different than other schools who have had to deal with it. We're all in the same boat.”
Reach sports writer George Robinson at georgerobinson@theleafchronicle .com or (931) 245-0747 and on Twitter @Cville_sports.