Friday night lost: Two Lexington football games postponed after COVID-19 positive
A Lexington high school football player’s positive COVID-19 test has led to two Friday night games bring postponed, Fayette district spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall said.
The Friday night matchups between Tates Creek and Henry Clay and Paul Laurence Dunbar and Lafayette were canceled just hours before their scheduled 6:30 p.m. kickoffs.
The decision came late Friday after Fayette County Public Schools officials learned that a Henry Clay football player tested positive for COVID-19.
“Given the short window of time between learning of the diagnosis and the start of the game, there is not sufficient time to do a thorough contact tracing,” Fayette County Public Schools Chief of High Schools James McMillin said in the release. “We would prefer to act out of an abundance of caution. Since these are matchups between schools within the district, we have the flexibility to reschedule.”
The athlete who tested positive is a member of both the Henry Clay junior varsity and varsity squads who plays both offense and defense. The JV teams of Henry Clay and Lafayette played earlier this week, when the individual might have been contagious, the release said.
No other players have tested positive on any of the four teams, according to FCPS.
In accordance with Fayette County Public Schools Return to Athletics Guidelines, district officials will work closely with the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department to complete contact tracing and identify any individuals who need to quarantine.
Quarantines and isolation periods are typically 14 days and the case could force changes to the other games on Henry Clay’s schedule. The Blue Devils are supposed to play Great Crossing next week, but that is not a “must-play” district game. Earlier this season, Great Crossing backed out of a game against Frederick Douglass after a reported COVID-19 case on the Broncos even though the rest of the team was cleared to play by the health department.
If Henry Clay’s Tates Creek game must be made up by the end of the regular season on Nov. 6, it could mean its game against Lexington Christian on that date would have to be canceled. The Dunbar and Lafayette game has already been rescheduled for Nov. 6.
COVID-19 concerns have been the cause of a number of cancellations in every sport playing this fall. Most cancellations have been over concerns playing a team from a “red” county on the state’s coronavirus incidence map, but some have been actual cases on a team that have forced suspensions of play.
Earlier this season, the Tates Creek volleyball team’s season was suspended after a recent opponent notified them of a COVID-19 case. Tates Creek was able to resume. This week the Douglass volleyball team reportedly had a COVID-19 case on its varsity squad, forcing it to field its JV team in the 42nd District Tournament.
On Friday, the day after Henderson County boys’ soccer team won the 2nd Region championship, the Colonels announced a player on the team had come in contact with someone who contracted COVID-19 and it was immediately entering isolation and ending its season. While there have been other teams forced out of postseason play over COVID-19, Henderson County became the first team to have to forfeit its place in a Kentucky High School Athletic Association state tournament.
