Carroll, Trinity to play football in Oklahoma on Friday, but without bands and cheerleaders

Southlake Carroll and Euless Trinity high schools will be playing football in Oklahoma on Friday, but without bands, cheerleaders, drill teams and spirit squads.

Because charter bus companies are busy in the flood-ravaged Houston area, transporting those flooded from their homes to shelters, there’s no way to get everyone to the games in Oklahoma.

But the football teams at Carroll and Trinity, two North Texas powerhouses, will make the trip.

Carroll will play Broken Arrow High School at 7 p.m. Friday the school’s Memorial Stadium.

Trinity will play Tulsa Union High School at 7 p.m. Friday at Tuttle Stadium in Tulsa.

Both the Carroll and Hurst-Euless-Bedford school districts determined that they could not use school buses because they are needed for after-school bus routes.

The reasoning for not taking all of the students involved in the games was posted on both the Carroll and H-E-B websites.

“The charter bus company we had reserved for all our students groups — Band, Emerald Belles, CREW and Cheerleaders — are being utilized by FEMA for the unprecedented statewide and southwest regional emergency caused by Hurricane Harvey,” wrote Carroll Superintendent David Faltys.

Carroll officials said they were able to find enough charter buses to take the football team to the game.

In the H-E-B district, Superintendent Steven A. Chapman said that officials are still searching for two charter buses for the football team, but hadn’t found any as of Wednesday.

“If the charter buses are not available, we will use our own district school buses to take the football team to Tulsa,” Chapman wrote on the website.

Faltys said Broken Arrow officials offered to send buses to help transport student groups, but there were concerns about liability issues.

Both district leaders acknowledged that the needs of residents along the Gulf Coast takes precedence over high school football.

“These are less than ideal circumstances caused by an unprecedented natural disaster for Texas, and we continue to pray and support those who have experienced personal loss,” Chapman wrote.

Faltys wrote: “The challenges we face regarding Friday night football are in no way comparable to the tragic events unfolding in communities south of us.”

This story was originally published August 30, 2017 at 12:41 PM with the headline "Carroll, Trinity to play football in Oklahoma on Friday, but without bands and cheerleaders."