Yahoo Movies Why Charlotte area football coaches are wary of COVID prematurely ending playoff runs
Butler High football coach Brian Hales noticed last week when two high school football teams weren’t able to play in the first round of the N.C. state playoffs due to COVID-19 protocols.
North Stanly, which had the first unbeaten regular-season in school history, and Raleigh’s Leesville Road had to forfeit their postseason games.
Season over.
“I couldn’t imagine having that conversation with my team,” said Hales, whose team plays a second-round game at Providence on Friday. “You go on the field and you get beat, OK. You know, going into it, that one team will have to have that conversation, that your season is over. But to have one like that (after a COVID-19 situation), that would be one of the toughest ones to have. I’m just glad I haven’t had to have it.”
Hales and other coaches in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools have dealt with additional COVID-19 protocols all season, including having players wear masks while playing and playing in front of limited crowds. But with many student-athletes now back in school four days a week, there are fresh concerns.
“After the game Friday night,” Hough coach Matt Jenkins said, “I talked to them and said, ‘You have to be smart. If you have 25 kids in a class, don’t sit close to anyone. Ask the teacher to sit more than six feet away. Eat lunch by yourself.’ I mean nobody wants that, but we don’t want to lose somebody.”
Jenkins, whose team has a rematch with 4AA state champion Vance on Friday, said a contact tracing case or an actual COVID case with a player is “the thing I worry about most right now that we’re back in Plan A” for school.
At Providence, second-year coach Wes Ward said he finds himself constantly reminding his players to still wash their hands, keep their distance and wear a mask.
“I tell the kids to be cautious,” he said. “I’ve seen it, and you have to, in society. We have vaccines and people are losing their masks and going back to how it was. COVID is not gone yet. It’s still around. It’s not an everyday talk we have with our kids, but we remind them that this can still happen.”
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Ward: ‘The reason we came back is our culture’
Ward got his first playoff win Friday, when the Panthers rallied to beat Hickory Ridge 44-34.
Hickory Ridge led 28-7 in the first quarter and 31-13 late in the first half. In the comeback, Providence didn’t allow a point in the second half.
“The reason we came back is our culture. I truly believe that,” Ward said. “It’s the trust that we have, that family aspect that we have. That’s the reason we came back.”
Ward said his defense was making uncharacteristic mistakes as Hickory Ridge built its lead.
“I kept telling them that, ‘If you guys will wake up and mentally get into this game, we can come back and win,’” Ward said. “You saw what happened. The second quarter, we held them to field goals and the second half, it was a shutout. They kept battling and once we mentally got into the game and started playing our game, we kind of took over.”
Butler presents a bigger challenge Friday. The Bulldogs beat Hickory Ridge 52-14 last month. But Ward thinks having a game like Friday’s will help. He also thinks playing a three-time state champion like Butler presents the Panthers with a unique opportunity.
“Hopefully the kids will use that energy (from the Hickory RIdge win) and know they can play with whomever they want to play with as long as we do what we are supposed to do,” Ward said. “I think this kind of pushes us along to where we want to be. We want to be mentioned with the Butlers and Houghs and Vances. We want to be there. I’m not saying we’re there now, but if we want to be there, those are the kinds of games we want to win.”
Butler’s Hales: Going ‘small’ no big deal
Butler High School has won three N.C. 4AA state championships, playing in the state’s largest class against the state’s best teams. But this season, the Bulldogs are in the 4A class.
“I’ve got mixed feelings about it,” coach Brian Hales said. “There’s been that aura of playing in the big 4A, and it’s the biggest schools and there’s a team there (Myers Park) that we would like to play again because of what happened early in the year (a Myers Park win at Butler). But we can only play the schedule in front of us and try to win that week.
“No matter if you’re small 4A or big 2A, or whomever, if you win the last game, you’re state champs. And we’ve been talking about 5-8-21 (the date of the state finals) since October. And there’s great teams in 4A. Providence is a great team. Looking down the road, Grimsley is out there, Richmond is lurking. There’s Cardinal Gibbons. I don’t think we can look at it and say, ‘It’s small 4A and it’s easier.’ We’re small 4A for a reason. We don’t have the numbers anymore, and it’s tough when you have 2,000 students and playing schools with 3,500.”
Jenkins: Beating Vance twice in three weeks is ‘difficult’
Hough coach Matt Jenkins will try to lead his team to two wins over state champion Vance in three weeks Friday when the teams play a second round game at Hough.
“That’s going to be very difficult,” Jenkins said, “because they’re really good and really fast and athletic and they’re well-coached. They’ve got great athletes all over the field. We’re going to do everything we can to keep it close again.”
Hough beat Vance 29-22 to win the I-MECK championship. Vance had 18 offensive penalties in that game and gave up three scores on special teams.
“We played with a lot of discipline and we were physical,” Jenkins said. “And we got a few breaks on special teams from them. I think that helped. But I think we do a good job (on special teams) and we are prepared on that side of the ball. We’re a good football team too, now. Our kids don’t have the most talent on the field every Friday night, but our kids play really hard and every Friday, our players will leave everything they have on the field and because of that we feel we always have a shot.”
Friday’s NCHSAA playoff schedule
Class 4AA
Friday’s quarterfinals
West
Vance (7-1) at Hough (8-0)
Panther Creek (8-0) at Myers Park (8-0)
East
Pinecrest (6-2) at Wake Forest (6-1)
Hoggard (8-0) at Rolesville (7-0)
Class 4A
Friday’s quarterfinals
West
Hillside (4-2) at Grimsley (7-0)
Butler (7-1) at Providence (7-1)
East
Richmond Senior (4-0) at Cardinal Gibbons (7-0)
New Bern (6-1) at South View (7-1)
Class 3AA
Friday’s quarterfinals
West
Dudley (7-1) at T.C. Roberson (7-1)
Weddington (8-0) at Mount Tabor (8-0)
East
Lee County (8-0) at Cleveland (8-0)
Clayton (7-1) at West Brunswick (6-1)
Class 3A
Friday’s quarterfinals
West
Charlotte Catholic (6-1) at A.C. Reynolds (7-1)
Monroe (6-2) at Kings Mountain (8-0)
East
Eastern Alamance (6-1) at Western Alamance (8-0)
Havelock (8-0) at Northwood (6-2)
Class 2AA
Friday’s quarterfinals
West
Oak Grove (6-2) at North Davidson (7-1)
Salisbury (6-2) at Burns (6-2)
East
Croatan (7-1) at Washington (6-1)
SouthWest Edgecombe (6-2) at St. Pauls (6-0)
Class 2A
Friday’s quarterfinals
West
Shelby (6-2) at Hendersonville (6-2)
Mount Pleasant (8-0) at Mountain Heritage (5-1)
East
Wallace-Rose Hill (5-3) at Reidsville (7-0)
Eastern Randolph (5-1) at Northeastern (5-0)
Class 1AA
Friday’s quarterfinals
West
Polk County (5-1) at North Rowan (5-1)
Pine Lake Prep (8-0) at East Surry (7-1)
East
John A. Holmes (6-0) at Tarboro (6-0)
East Carteret (6-2) at Louisburg (5-2)
Class 1A
Friday’s quarterfinals
West
Murphy (7-1) at Elkin (6-1)
Mitchell County (7-0) at Robbinsville (8-0)
East
Pamlico County (5-2) at Pinetown Northside (6-2)
Bear Grass Charter (4-1) at Northampton County (2-3)
