Ballinger cancels Friday night’s football game due to COVID-19; Breckenridge officials seeking alternative opponent
UPDATE: According to an email received by Breckenridge ISD Head Football Coach and Athletic Director Casey Pearce, the Buckaroos will play Bells High School tomorrow night for the Homecoming game at 7:30 p.m.
By Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan
Ballinger Independent School District has canceled Friday night’s varsity football game against Breckenridge High School’s Buckaroos due to the number of players and staff on the Bearcats team who have COVID-19. The game was to be the Buckaroos’ 2021 Homecoming game.
Breckenridge ISD Superintendent Bryan Allen said school officials are trying to find a replacement team for the game.
According to information posted Wednesday, Sept. 1, on the Ballinger ISD website, 18 students in the district, including 13 high school students have active cases of COVID-19. Additionally, two elementary teachers are reported to have the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
Allen said the junior varsity game, which is scheduled for this evening in Ballinger is still on schedule. “They don’t have a widespread infection…it’s basically that four of their five varsity offensive linemen have it,” he said. “So they don’t have a whole bunch of kids with it. It’s just they can’t field the team in the situation that they are in. None of the (Ballinger) JV kids are sick. I think maybe one of them has been sick but has been home in quarantine for over a week. So they felt like their JV crew was pretty clean.”
While Breckenridge school officials try to find a team to play on Friday night, the other Homecoming activities will continue, Allen said.
“We’ll still have homecoming ceremonies, whether we have a game or not. As soon as we have details, we’re going to get that released everybody,” he said.
Cutline, top photo: The Breckenridge High School varsity football players wave to the crowd from their float during Wednesday evening’s Homecoming Parade in downtown Breckenridge. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Editor’s Note: The update on this story was changed to show that Breckenridge High School will be playing Bells HS tomorrow night for Homecoming after receiving an email from Head Football Coach Case Pearce confirming the game.
