COWETA COUNTY, Ga. — After a summer filled with so much uncertainty, the Georgia high school football season is here as players prepare to play under Friday night lights.
“We’re just stoked to get back out there after a long off season,” senior running back Bryson Moss said.
Moss is a captain and senior running back for the Newnan High School football team and told Channel 2′s Michael Seiden he can’t wait for next Friday.
That’s when the Cougars along with hundreds of other high schools across the state will kick off the regular season.
“We feel like we’re ready. We just need a little bit more preparing to do,” Moss said.
Earlier this month, Moss feared the coronavirus pandemic may have sidelined his senior season after one of his teammates tested positive for COVID-19.
That player and his family immediately notified the team and the school district. Newnan players and coaches were quarantined for two weeks.
The school told Seiden the team is healthy and has been cleared to play.
“Just excited to get back on the field,” Moss said.
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But this season will be unlike any other as the days of packed stadiums on Friday nights appear to be over for now.
Each school district will have the final say when it comes to fans. Channel 2 Action News reached out to the major districts in metro Atlanta.
In Cobb County, only family members will be allowed in the stands to watch their loved ones coach and play while social distancing.
Atlanta Public Schools and Clayton County Schools will not allow fans into games. Fulton County Schools, which delayed its start, are expected to release its plans on Monday.
Gwinnett, Spalding and Henry counties are only allowing limited seating. DeKalb County meanwhile has delayed the start of all fall sports until at least the end of September.
What about the safety of players and coaches? Channel 2 spoke last month with Dr. David Marshall, director of sports medicine at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
Marshall also serves on the Georgia High School Association advisory council, which is in charge of issuing guidelines to keep athletes safe during the pandemic.
“We understand that there’s going to be some risk. But the question is do the risks of not going to school or not having extracurriculars outweigh the risk of actually having it, especially if all these precautions are taken,” Marshall said.
Seiden reached out to several high school coaches including Walton High School head coach Daniel Brunner. This Friday night, people will notice painted blue boxes on the sidelines there.
“We’ve got six-by-six boxes painted from the 10 yard line to the 10 yard line and our whole goal is to maintain the six feet for those kids on the sideline because that’s the stuff we worry about.”
Brunner told Seiden it’s impossible to predict how the season will go. There is no guarantee teams will make it through an entire season.
But right now, coaches and players are focused on getting through Week 1.
“To be flat out honest with you, it’s been an exhausting summer and camp, but my whole thing, and I’ve said this to my staff, this thing is all about our boys,” Brunner said. “I know we don’t want to be taking temps and having their masks on and having to do all these protocols, but we gotta do it for these boys to have the season they deserve.”