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MAGNA — For the second straight week, a Utah high school football game has been canceled because of complications from the coronavirus.
Cyprus’ upcoming game Friday night at Ridgeline has been canceled, Riverhawks athletic director Mike Hansen confirmed to KSL.com on Monday evening.
The Week 2 game was lifted from the schedule after two positive cases of COVID-19 were identified from the Pirates’ football program following last Friday’s 42-0 home loss to Snow Canyon.
It’s the second Utah high school football game to be canceled, following Bingham’s home opener against Weber. The Utah High School Activities Association planned for several disruptions to the season, setting aside guidelines for rescheduling games, contact tracing and even not punishing a team’s end-of-season RPI rating that directly affects the playoffs for canceled games due to COVID-19.
The Pirates and Riverhawks will both receive a “zero” for the canceled game, rather than a forfeit for either side. But Ridgeline still wants to play a game, if possible.
“Needless to say, we were disappointed,” Hansen told KSL.com. “We are realistic enough to know that some disruptions might occur this school year, but we would hope that us and everyone else would do our best to fulfill our obligations even if we're not at full strength.”
The tests alone would not require a cancelation of any football contests, according to Dr. Dagmar Vitek with the Salt Lake County Health Department.
“Based on an investigation and contact tracing, we have found that there were not exposures that require quarantine,” Vitek wrote in a letter to parents dated Sunday. “It is still safe to continue coming to football.”
Still, coaches and administrators at Cyprus opted to postpone all football activities, including practices and games.
“The school and the coach opted to cancel practices for this week and the games this weekend,” Granite School District spokesman Ben Horsley said. “Just out of an abundance of caution.”
Health officials are asking individuals and families who were in attendance at the game to monitor themselves or their child for symptoms of COVID-19, which include fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhea.
If such symptoms appear, recipients should be tested for the novel coronavirus and remain isolated until they receive their test results “out of an abundance of caution.”
Ridgeline is coming off a 42-38 win over Pine View in a game that was played at Westlake High School in Saratoga Springs. Because of COVID-19 restrictions placed by the Cache County School District, the Riverhawks are not allowed to remain away from home overnight, canceling out-of-state trips and potentially limiting in-state opponents for the rural Cache Valley school in Millville (with accommodations).
But Ridgeline still hopes to play this Friday night, and Hansen told KSL.com that the Riverhawks will even travel for a rescheduled game, if necessary.
“We are looking for a game everywhere possible,” the athletic director said, “but nothing yet.”
Just as no team is defined by one week's game during a normal season, neither are they held to a singular standard due to one cancellation. Bingham coach Dave Peck told the Deseret News on Monday that the Miners have every intention to play this Friday at Skyridge in what will be their first game of the season.
UHSAA executive director Rob Cuff said that while an overarching theme defines high school policies and procedures for play during the pandemic, individual decisions regarding contact tracing, game cancelations and similar decisions are made by individual school districts — in consultation with the local and county health department.
“So the protocol is the school districts work hand in hand with their county health departments, depending upon where they’re at with the governor’s lead-together plan, now at 4.9,” Cuff said Monday. “Depending on where each county is on that will depend on how their county heath department reacts to that.”
