Kearns High Football Ends Season Early Due To COVID-19, Forfeits Playoff Game
Oct 22, 2020, 3:33 PM | Updated: 3:46 pm
High school football game against Olympus at Kearns High School in Kearns on Friday, Aug. 28, 2020. (Courtesy of Deseret News)
(Courtesy of Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The 2020 high school football season is ending early for the No. 8 ranked and No. 5 seed Kearns Cougars because of COVID-19.
On Thursday, October 22, Edward reported that Kearns High will have to forfeit its upcoming playoff game and ends its season earlier than expected.
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James Edward of the Deseret News was the first to report the story. KSL Sports confirmed the canceled game for Kearns and obtained a copy of a letter addressed from the Granite School District that was addressed to parents in regards to the dismissed contest.
“We have worked closely with the Health Department to scrutinize the case information and can confirm at this time that our football team now has 3-confirmed cases within that 14-day window. In addition to the schoolwide dismissal, we have received the recommendation to dismiss the football team for this same time period,” the Granite School District told parents in the letter. “We have agonized over the fact that this dismissal will effectively end the football team’s season. We acknowledge the great success they have experienced this season. We sincerely regret this is the case but readily acknowledge that the safety for our students and employees will continue to be paramount above all else.”
“Very hard thing to tell these guys,” Cougars head coach Matt Rickards told the Deseret News. “We are always masked. We have done everything they have asked and more.”
High school football: Kearns football shutting down for the season because of third COVID-19 positive case https://t.co/2XFqMDIa3Y pic.twitter.com/QtWv3LnCFh
— James Edward (@DNewsPreps) October 22, 2020
The Cougars earned a first round bye in the 2020 state football championship bracket for 6A and were slated to play the winner of the first round matchup between No. 12 East (5-4) and No. 21 Clearfield (3-7) on Friday, October 30 at 6 p.m. (MDT).
After dropping a game to the West Panthers in the second to last game of the season, Kearns will end the year with a record of 8-1.
