COVID-19 cancels Friday’s football game between Arlington Martin and Grand Prairie
As cases continue to rise, another Texas high school football game falls victim to COVID-19. Friday’s contest at Globe Life Park between Grand Prairie and Arlington Martin has been canceled.
According to Dave Campbell’s Matt Stepp, the District 8-6A executive committee will meet Saturday to determine the ruling of the game. It could go down as a no-contest or forfeit by Grand Prairie, which the COVID-19 concerns are coming from.
Grand Prairie (3-3 overall, 1-3 district) has already been hit by the virus bug this season, causing modifications to the schedule. The Gophers played two games last week (Monday Nov. 9 vs. Arlington Lamar and Saturday Nov. 14 vs. Arlington Bowie).
By not playing Martin, it hurts GP’s playoff chances. The Gophers are a game back of Lamar and South Grand Prairie, who are in a tie for third place. Martin has already clinched a playoff berth at 6-1 overall and 4-0 in district.
The playoffs start Dec. 10.
More than 50 games in the Dallas-Fort Worth area have been affected by COVID-19 this season.
Colleyville Heritage is in quarantine for the second time. The Panthers have canceled their last two games. They’ve played four games (4-0, 3-0 District 4-5A Division 1).
District 11-6A and 5-5A D2 have turned to zones. The districts have set playoff teams by the fourth week of district play in the event of games being canceled late in the season.
In 5-5A D2, Aledo and Mansfield Timberview meet Friday night 7 p.m. at Newsom Stadium for the district title and No. 1 seed. The loser will be second while Everman and Arlington Seguin have locked up the other two playoff berths.
Aledo and Timberview are making up their game which was originally scheduled for Nov. 6. It was postponed after Aledo had a positive COVID-19 test.
The Colony-Frisco Independence, Colleyville Heritage-Birdville, Cedar Hill-Waco and Cleburne-Seguin are some other DFW area games in Week 9 that have been canceled. The Colony has also canceled next week’s game vs. Frisco Lone Star.
The virus will continue to have an affect in the playoffs. It’s already affecting the postseason in Class 4A and below as a handful of games have been forfeited. Grandview moved on after Teague forfeited their first round game on Nov. 12.
This story was originally published November 20, 2020 at 2:29 PM.
