Clarkston on Thursday became the 10th football team to cancel its GHSA fall football schedule.
Coach Terrence Hughey confirmed the decision to GHSF Daily, citing low participation numbers amid the pandemic. Clarkston, a DeKalb County school, was a member of Region 5-5A but has not played a region schedule since 2011.
Below is a look at 83 known teams, or about 20 percent of the GHSA’s 426 football-playing schools, that have delayed seasons or canceled games because of COVID-19. They are listed with the date they are allowed to return or their first scheduled game.
Teams that canceled or delayed because of a school district’s decision are listed with their county. The rest are listed with “other” or “others.”
Most GHSA teams, including many delaying their seasons, still have 10-game schedules.
Sept. 11
*Other (1): Elbert County
Sept. 18
*Fulton County (16): Alpharetta, Banneker, Cambridge, Centennial, Chattahoochee, Creekside, Hapeville Charter, Hughes, Johns Creek, Milton, North Springs, Northview, Riverwood, Roswell, Tri-Cities, Westlake
*Bibb County (6): Central, Howard, Northeast, Rutland, Southwest, Westside
*Others (10): Berkmar, Colquitt County, East Jackson, Laney, Mill Creek, North Atlanta, Statesboro, Terrell County, Vidalia, Wilkinson County
Sept. 25
*Others (5): Hancock Central, Dooly County, Kendrick, King’s Ridge Christian, Westminster
Oct. 2
*DeKalb County (18): Arabia Mountain, Cedar Grove, Chamblee, Columbia, Cross Keys, Druid Hills, Dunwoody, Lakeside, Lithonia, M.L. King, McNair, Miller Grove, Redan, Southwest DeKalb, Stephenson, Stone Mountain, Towers, Tucker
*Savannah-Chatham (8): Beach, Groves, Islands, Jenkins, Johnson, New Hampstead, Savannah, Windsor Forest
*Dougherty County (3): Dougherty, Monroe, Westover
*Others (3): Decatur, KIPP Atlanta Collegiate, Randolph-Clay
Oct. 9
*Other (1): Baldwin
Indefinitely
*Liberty County (2): Bradwell Institute, Liberty County
Canceled
*Rockdale County (3): Heritage-Conyers, Rockdale County, Salem
Others (7): Calhoun County, Clarkston, Riverside Military, Our Lady of Mercy, Pinecrest Academy, Stewart County, Twiggs County
Note: Pinecrest Academy is playing eight-man football in GAPPS.
Georgia receiver held national record
Three Georgia high school players have led the nation in receiving yards since 1960, according to the research of MaxPreps reporter Kevin Askeland, and one apparently held the national record for nine years and never got the credit.
Askeland came across a 1968 article in the Atlanta Journal stating that Mike Kemp of Tallulah Falls had 56 receptions for 1,843 yards and 20 touchdowns for a Class C team. In addition, he intercepted 17 passes as a defensive back ... “and once scored five touchdowns in five different ways in a single game,” the article said.
Tallulah Falls was 8-1 in 1968, easily trouncing Dacula (39-0) and Buford (61-0), among others, according to the Georgia High School Football Historians Association. Tallulah’s loss to Georgia Industrial Institute 25-7 cost the team the Region 3-C title. In December, the school inducted Kemp and two others into its Athletic Legends/Hall of Honor, though no mention was made of a national record.
The other Georgia players that led the nation were Valdosta’s Stan Rome in 1971 (1,573 yards) and Westminster’s Cole Egan in 1978 (1,339).
GHSA changes re-acclimation policy
The Georgia High School Association tweaked is re-acclimation policy this week to allow athletes to play games on the fifth day following quarantine. The original policy, set Aug. 26, allowed only 2.5 hours of practice with full pads on the fifth day, which meant a player screened out for COVID-19 would be sidelined from games for at least 19 days. The GHSA also announced that re-acclimation rules would end Sept. 30. Even one extra day makes a difference. Elbert County, which had to cancel its game with Hart County this week because of COVID-19 exposure, barely saved its game next week against Whitefield Academy. It will be played Saturday, Sept. 12, to meet guidelines.
Michigan to play fall ball after all
Michigan will play football this fall, reversing field from an Aug. 14 decision to play in the spring. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued a broad executive order Thursday that allows football, and the Michigan High School Athletic Association moved quickly to announce the season would kick off Sept. 18. “You’re seeing states [play football] whose COVID-19 numbers are far worse than Michigan’s,” MHSAA executive director Mark Uyl told the Detroit Free Press. “It has been, nationwide, a very successful start to the year.” Michigan had been one of 16 states to push football into the winter or spring.
Basketball season pushed back a week
The Georgia High School Association on Friday moved back the start of the basketball season one week to Nov. 20 as the first date games can be held. That’s also the last Friday night of the football regular season. The decision mitigates basketball’s overlap with the football season, which was pushed back two weeks and not scheduled to end until the week after Christmas. The dates of the first basketball practices (Oct. 26) and state playoffs (Feb. 23) remained the same.
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