High school football stadiums across Georgia were dark and silent Friday on what was supposed to be the opening weekend of the 2020 season.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic led the Georgia High School Association to delay the start of the season by two weeks, and some school districts and individual schools opted to hold off even longer or cancel the fall season altogether.
Other states chose to forge ahead, so there was football in the South this weekend. And one didn’t have to look far to find it.
In Valley, Ala., a town of roughly 10,000 people located less than five miles beyond Georgia’s western border and about 20 miles from the nearest Georgia high school (Troup in LaGrange), the Valley High Rams played host to Beauregard of Opelika as part of the kickoff weekend of the Alabama High School Athletic Association season.
The Rams’ home venue is close enough to the state border - about 1.2 miles as the crow flies - that the stadium lights and the roar of the crowd could drift over the Chattahoochee River, providing Georgia with a preview of what’s expected to come in the weeks ahead.
The Valley community was ready to see its team return to the field.
“Oh, this means so much to us,” Valley principal Sherry Ashe said. “We are so used to the COVID guidelines that we’ve all been under lately. Everybody’s been staying at home and away from each other, and kids truly need that socialization. So just being able to come out here and play football and have a little bit of normalcy to us is huge for the fans and especially for our students.”
Football was back, even if it was a little different in these pandemic times.
First and foremost, masks and social distancing were the orders of the day. Masks were required of everyone, especially spectators, when it was practical to wear them. Attendance at Ram Stadium was limited to roughly 1,400, including the band. That’s one-third of its usual capacity, allowing for more distance between fans.
There were other changes, as well. No tickets were sold at the stadium, preventing a crowd of people at the ticket gate. The concession stand sold only prepackaged items, so candy, chips and bottled drinks were on the menu instead of hamburgers, hot dogs and nachos. The teams sent only one captain each to midfield for the pregame coin toss instead of the usual three or four. Handshakes and high-fives among players were discouraged, and there was no postgame handshake on the field between the teams.
As the evening wore on, however, those differences seemed to fade. The feeling was one of a normal football Friday night in the South, even if it wasn’t. The virus was never out of mind, but it was no longer the main focus.
“It gives me a chance to be out and meet people I hadn’t seen,” said 72-year-old Norman Thomas, a longtime Valley resident who has been attending Rams games since the early 1970s and whose grandson, Romel Jackson, is a member of this year’s team. “I was thinking about how I grew up. I was playing football and had something to do. But a lot of these young people have been cooped up for so many months, can’t go anywhere and see their friends. I’m sure it means a lot to them to be out there.
“I’m always concerned with that virus, with them bringing it home to me, but I try to be careful, with this mask and whatever I have to do. But I want them to be happy, and I just pray to God that all of them are safe.”
For the record, Valley rolled to a 49-13 victory. The Rams led 21-0 less than eight minutes into the game, 35-0 at halftime and 42-0 going into the fourth quarter. Senior Josh Heath ran for three touchdowns, and fellow senior Jacquez Trammell scored on a 21-yard interception return and a 13-yard pass from Will Kennedy. Beauregard scored its two touchdowns in the final six minutes on short runs by Kyan Miloy and Carlton Harris.
“There was just so much uncertainty,” said Valley’s Adam Hunter, a longtime assistant who was making his debut as the Rams’ head coach. “It’s been two months of not knowing if we were going to play. For these seniors to get out here and play, we talked to them about playing this game like it could be your last one. We don’t know what’s going to happen. And that’s the way they played tonight, like it’s their last one. We’re taking it day by day.”
Added senior linebacker Ryan Valencia, “It’s amazing, because going into the season, we didn’t think we were going to play because of COVID-19. So it’s great to be out there with all my brothers. It’s just amazing to be out there right now.”
The outcome, however, was perhaps less important than the fact that the game was played at all.
“Things are up and down at times, but football has carried this community,” Valley assistant principal Casey Chambley said. “Athletics in general has carried this community, and they rally around it. Last spring, when the pandemic hit and a lot of the kids had to back off their activities, it was tough. It was really tough. But getting back to it, the hard work that the coaches and the kids put in, it’s important to get to see them play. And you see that the crowd comes out, even when they’re limited. It means a lot. It means a lot to small communities.”
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