Fitzgerald on Monday postponed its football opener with Cairo and began the week in virtual learning. The two South Georgia teams were scheduled to play Friday night in Fitzgerald but now are tentatively scheduled to play Sept. 17.
That brings to six the number of opening games that won’t be played this week because of COVID-19 outbreaks.
The Clarke Central-Cedar Shoals game scheduled for Saturday in Athens was postponed indefinitely Sunday with hopes of rescheduling.
Other postponed or canceled games are Burke County vs. Benedictine, Sumter County vs. Westover, Randolph-Clay vs. Dougherty and Crisp County vs. Tift County. A game between Richmond Academy and Hancock Central also has been taken off the books, although no reason has been given.
Several school systems have closed schools or gone to virtual learning this month. On Friday, Burke County Schools, citing 40 positive cases, announced it won’t reopen until Aug. 30, and all sports are suspended.
Other counties that have closed schools but not canceled games are Ware County, Macon County, Long County and Glascock County.
In 2020, the pandemic canceled about 10% of regular-season games and postponed many more.
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