North Crowley football players contract COVID-19, results in the latest canceled game
North Crowley High School has announced it has called off its next football game because three of its players have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the number of local canceled games to at least 25 over the last couple of weeks.
The Panthers (1-1) have canceled their Week 3 home game against the Mansfield Legacy Broncos (1-1), which was scheduled for Friday at 7:30 p.m. The junior varsity and freshman games between the two schools have also been canceled.
“Other players and coaches are quarantining out of an abundance of caution as advised by the Tarrant County Public Health Department. Families of quarantined players have been notified and given resources to monitor for symptoms,” Crowley ISD said in a press release.
North Crowley and Mansfield Legacy both opened their seasons on Sept. 25 with victories. North Crowley beat Crowley, 13-0, and Mansfield Legacy defeated Byron Nelson, 31-17. Last week, North Crowley lost a narrow one to The Colony, 24-21, and Mansfield Legacy fell to V.R. Eaton, 17-7.
According to Panthers head coach Courtney Allen, his team’s district opener scheduled for Oct. 15 against Fort Worth Paschal hasn’t been canceled.
“We’ll have our field house deep cleaned and sanitized,” he said. “It also gives us some more time to focus on our academics.”
Last week, 11 games featuring at least one Fort Worth-area school were called off. At least eight of those games were canceled and won’t be made up.
Three other games — Dallas Bishop Lynch-Nolan Catholic, Argyle Liberty Christian-Fort Worth All Saints and Colleyville Heritage-Euless Trinity — that were scheduled for this weekend have already been canceled.
Nolan Catholic (1-0), which canceled its Week 1 game with Duncanville, will play at Plano Prestonwood on Friday at 7 p.m. It will be the second straight cancellation for All Saints (1-0) following last week’s scheduled game with Prestonwood. Heritage (1-0), which beat Grapevine in Week 1, canceled last week’s game with Boswell.
Keller Fossil Ridge and Birdville have yet to play a game this season after canceling its first two games due to COVID-19. Fossil Ridge is scheduled to start the season on Friday at 7 p.m. against Arlington at Globe Life Park. Birdville will host Crowley on Friday at 7 p.m.
“It’s been a whirlwind of emotions, disappointment, frustration and concern due to the health aspect of this whole thing,” Birdville coach Lon Holbrook said. “We’ve been checking in with our kids. We’re going to do our best to get out there and compete. We know it’s a tough task, but the kids want to play, and they deserve that opportunity.”
Arlington Martin (1-1) and Fort Worth North Side (2-0) had their games canceled with Hebron and Arlington Seguin last week. Both the Warriors and Steers found new opponents and picked up wins against The Woodlands College Park and Dallas Lincoln.
Others that canceled games last week because of COVID-19 include Red Oak (vs. Mansfield Timberview) and LD Bell (vs. FW Southwest). Red Oak (0-1) announced that it was shutting down all athletic programs until Oct. 12. This includes Friday’s football game with Copperas Cove.
