Aberdeen High School administrators made the call on Wednesday to cancel Friday’s scheduled football game against Tumwater due to a positive COVID-19 test among the Bobcats team.
The county’s health board contacted the school district after it was discovered that one player had tested positive for COVID. No other players had tested positive as of Wednesday afternoon.
According to Aberdeen athletic director John Crabb, the player that tested positive and any additional unvaccinated players will be quarantined for five days and will then be retested.
If no players test positive at that time, normal football activities will resume for the program.
The approximate 16 players on Aberdeen’s roster that have been vaccinated will be able to continue to practice during the five-day quarantine period.
Crabb stated the school is acting “out of an abundance of safety” and will perform contact tracing within the program during the quarantine period in hopes of minimizing any possible transmission.
Aberdeen (2-0 overall) was set to face the defending 2A champions and state’s 18th-ranked team on Friday evening at Stewart Field to open the 2A Evergreen League season.
As of Wednesday evening, no information was available on if or when the game would be rescheduled.
Aberdeen is the third of Grays Harbor County’s four larger schools to loose a game due to a positive COVID test this season. Montesano had its Week 1 game canceled due to a potential outbreak in late August, followed by the Elma Eagles losing a game last week due to a single positive COVID test.
Bobcats head coach Todd Bridge offered his thoughts on the matter in a statement to The Daily World:
“First off, we are concerned about the well-being of our players and their families who have been in contact with this worldwide virus. Football is just a game. Covid is a real, man-made virus which has impacted billions of people worldwide.
“With recent events, our heart goes out to the players, especially the seniors. They only have so many games in their careers and for these seniors, who were relegated to a six game season last winter with strict spectator regulations, they feel the impact a little more than everybody else. From a community standpoint, our fans have lost an opportunity to watch their friends and sons play a home game as we have only two more opportunities to perform in front of them this season.
“From a program standpoint, it is very disappointing as we won’t have the opportunity to see where we matchup with the best team in the state. As our program improves and we strive for greatness, the best gauge-marker is Tumwater, and now we don’t get that chance to see how we measure up.”
