It just all seems sad, strange and a bit ironic.
What, you say?
Well, when the GHSA collectively shut its doors on April 2 – pulling the plug on all spring sports -- there were +/- 5,000 cumulative confirmed COVID-19 cases in Georgia from Jan. 1 to April 2, according to coronavirus statistics provided by Bing.
As of Nov. 11, there were 377,694 cumulative cases reported in the state.
On Wednesday, Georgia reported more than 1,640 new cases. On Tuesday, 1,873 new cases. On Monday, 1,103 new cases. That’s 4,616 new cases this week. Add in the weekend’s cases and in one week, we will have added well over 5,000 new COVID-19 cases.
The AJC’s COVID Dashboard indicates that on April 2, when the GHSA shut down sports and we were required to ‘shelter in place', there were 609 confirmed cases reported that day and a weekly average at the time of 550 cases daily.
On Nov. 9, according to the dashboard, there were 682 confirmed cases reported and a 7-day average of 1,014 confirmed cases.
“We are seeing an increase in our numbers across all communities. It’s happening in the U.S.; it’s happening across the globe; it’s impacting all age groups, so this is a huge problem,” Dr. Danny Branstetter, medical director for infection prevention at the WellStar Health System, told 11Alive news on Wednesday.
And now, here we are with the COVID-19 pandemic re-emerging in Week 11 of the high school football season and throughout the state’s eight classifications. Twenty games have been canceled in the state -- and more are expected before the lights are turned on Friday night -- including three of the top-five programs in Class 3A.
“This should cause Georgians to take note and beware that we are having an increase in ongoing transmission within our community and this is a rise in what we have been seeing over the past few weeks,” Branstetter told 11Alive.
Here are the Class 3A games that have been canceled this week: Region 5-3A No. 1 Cedar Grove vs. Douglass; Region 8-3A No. 2 Oconee County vs. Stephens County; Region 1-3A No. 5 Appling County vs. Brantley County; Region 6-3A No. 7 Rockmart vs. LaFayette; Region 7-3A Gilmer vs. White County.
Certainly, this does not bode well for the state playoffs that are scheduled to begin with first-round games on Nov. 27-28. The 3A state championship game will be held Dec. 30 at Noon.
But ... we proceed:
-- Two interesting games this week are Region 2-3A matchups -- No. 3 Peach County plays at home against Upson-Lee and No. 4 Crisp County plays at home against Central-Macon. Peach and Central are tied at 5-0 atop the standings. Assuming Crisp beats Central and Peach beats Upson-Lee, Peach County will take control of the region and Crisp will be tied with Central at 5-1 and the head-to-head tiebreaker should give Crisp the No. 2 seed in the region.
-- No. 9 Cherokee Bluff is one victory away from its first region title when it faces North Hall on Friday. The Bears, a third-year program, are undefeated (8-0, 4-0).
“We’ve talked a lot more about building a program on a solid foundation and having it built around intangibles,” said Cherokee Bluff head coach Tommy Jones on his program’s rise. “We’ve tried to focus on things that are within our control and not things that are outside of our control. We talk a lot about love and family and effort and attitude and discipline and preparation. We don’t talk a lot about wins and losses. We believe those things are the by-product of doing these other things well.”
Class 3A Top 10 schedule for Week 11
1. Cedar Grove (5-0, 4-0) was scheduled to play Douglass, but the game was canceled due to the pandemic.
2. Oconee County (8-0, 3-0) was scheduled to play Stephens County in an 8-3A game, but it was canceled due to the pandemic.
3. Peach County (6-1, 5-0) hosts Upson-Lee in a 2-3A game.
4. Crisp County (7-1, 4-1) travels to Central-Macon in a 2-3A game.
5. Appling County (7-0, 2-0) was scheduled to play Brantley County, but the game was canceled due to the pandemic.
6. Greater Atlanta Christian (6-1, 3-1) will host Carver-Atlanta in a 5-3A game.
7. Rockmart (7-1, 6-0) was scheduled to play LaFayette, but the game was canceled due to the pandemic.
8. Pierce County (6-1, 2-0) will travel to Tattnall County for a 1-3A game.
9. Cherokee Bluff (8-0, 4-0) will host North Hall in a 7-3A game.
10. Richmond Academy (7-1, 4-0) will travel to Cross Creek for a 4-3A game on Friday.
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