The COVID-19 pandemic will keep at least 67 of the Georgia High School Football Association’s 425 football-playing schools off the field when the season opens the week of Sept. 4.
DeKalb and Newton counties on Friday became the latest school districts to delay their seasons. DeKalb has 19 football-playing schools in the GHSA. Newton has three.
Other districts could follow. Atlanta Public Schools has a meeting this week to determine its plans.
GHSA officials remain optimistic that the season can begin on time. Football in Alabama and Tennessee is scheduled to begin this week. Arkansas is slated to begin Aug. 28.
The Florida high school association’s board of directors voted 11-5 on Friday to start football the week of Sept. 4, with practices beginning Aug. 24. The decision came despite an advised further delay by the association’s sports-medicine advisory committee earlier in the week. As in Georgia, several school districts might not be ready, especially those in south Florida.
Georgia school districts that won’t play games during opening week include Fulton County (suspended through Sept. 14), Decatur City (through Sept. 25), DeKalb County, Dougherty County and Savannah-Chatham (through Sept. 30). Liberty, Newton and Bibb counties have postponed play indefinitely, and Calhoun, Rockdale, Stewart and Twiggs counties canceled for the fall.
Small private schools Our Lady of Mercy, Pinecrest Academy and Riverside Military also won’t play GHSA football this fall. Pinecrest is playing eight-man football in another association.
Other districts, most particularly Clayton County, have suspensions slated to end before Sept. 4. Clayton’s ban, affecting nine football teams, runs through Friday and will be re-assessed this week.
Dooly County, a Class 1A school south of Macon, announced Monday that it was suspending sports indefinitely because of spread of COVID-19 in its county and the state.
Football teams that won’t play Sept. 4:
*Bibb (6) - Central, Howard, Northeast, Rutland, Southwest, Westside
*Decatur (1) - Decatur
*DeKalb (19) - Arabia Mountain, Cedar Grove, Chamblee, Clarkston, Columbia, Cross Keys, Druid Hills, Dunwoody, M.L. King, Lakeside, Lithonia, McNair, Miller Grove, Redan, Southwest DeKalb, Stephenson, Stone Mountain, Towers, Tucker
*Dougherty (3) - Dougherty, Monroe, Westover
*Fulton (16) - Alpharetta, Banneker, Cambridge, Centennial, Chattahoochee, Creekside, Johns Creek, Hapeville Charter, Hughes, Milton, North Springs, Northview, Riverwood, Roswell, Tri-Cities, Westlake
*Liberty (2) - Bradwell Institute, Liberty County
*Newton (3) - Alcovy, Eastside, Newton
*Rockdale (3) - Heritage, Rockdale County, Salem
*Savannah-Chatham (8) - Beach, Groves, Islands, Jenkins, Johnson, New Hampstead, Savannah, Windsor Forest
*Private schools (3) - Our Lady of Mercy, Pinecrest Academy, Riverside Military
*Class 1A public schools (3) - Calhoun County, Stewart County, Twiggs County
