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PROVO — COVID-19’s impact on high school football continues.
For the third straight week — and in the third distinct county in the Beehive State — a game has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Friday night’s rivalry clash between Provo and Timpview has been canceled, the Provo School District confirmed to KSL.com.
The cancellation comes after a member of the Provo High community tested positive for COVID-19 this week, district spokesperson Caleb Price said in a provided statement. Provo athletic director Mike Hunter confirmed the cancellation came from recommendations provided to the Bulldogs.
"At the recommendation of the Utah County Health Department, three classes of students have been asked to quarantine and several coaches. The quarantine was recommended as a precaution," the statement read. "Regrettably, the impact of the potential exposure at PHS requires that we cancel our varsity football game on Friday and our junior varsity football game (Thursday) against Timpview High School.
"Our athletic director is working with the online ticket vendor to determine the best way to resolve compensating the public for tickets sold for Friday’s game. More details will follow as soon as the process is confirmed."
KSL.com does not normally identify classes that are quarantined but chose to do so Thursday because the classes involve multiple athletes and coaches from the football team, according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the incident.
Under current Utah State Board of Education guidelines, at least three confirmed positive cases in a class would quarantine a class. Fifteen cases in a school or 10% of the student body (whichever is lower) would quarantine the entire student body and temporarily shift the school to online learning.
At least one Provo High student was hospitalized due to his battle with COVID-19 over the summer. The student is a defensive tackle and offensive lineman on the football team.
Provo and Timpview have played every year since 1977, according to the Thunderbirds' football historical records, covering the history of the program. The two teams continued that series when they were separated into different regions in 2015, while the Thunderbirds continued a winning streak that spanned 30 years with two wins last season — a 13-7 victory in the regular season and a 26-7 win at Provo in the Class 5A state quarterfinals.
Bingham High School canceled its season opener with Weber High after three athletes tested positive for the virus in Week 1 of the high school season. Cyprus High canceled its game at Ridgeline High a week later out of an abundance of caution following two more positive tests from the Pirates' football team a week later.
Neither game has been made up, though Ridgeline tried to reschedule a Week 2 opponent — with limited possibilities. The Utah High School Activities Association has plans in place that will not require teams to reschedule a game canceled due to coronavirus concerns. No such cancellation will impact either team's RPI rating for the state playoffs.
Provo was originally scheduled to stream the rivalry game on live.ksl.com. The Bulldogs are scheduled to play on Friday, Sept. 4, at Spanish Fork, though the program is "week-to-week," Hunter told KSL.com.
After opening with losses to No. 4 Lone Peak and No. 2 American Fork, the Thunderbirds will play at No. Bingham on Thursday, Sept. 3.
