Oakdale, Pitman call off Friday night football games amid COVID-19 concerns
Oakdale High School made the decision to cancel its Friday night game against Edison of Stockon, one of the top teams in the section, they announced on Twitter Wednesday afternoon. The decision was made Wednesday morning, according to Oakdale head coach Trent Merzon.
The Mustangs had one player test positive and 14 others will miss time due to contact tracing as a result of positive tests at school, Merzon confirmed to The Bee on Wednesday.
Merzon said that all 14 student athletes in quarantine tested negative for COVID-19 but can’t play sports but are still able to go to school and participate in all classes, including P.E. per California Department of Public Health guidelines.
“They are super disappointed and they are super frustrated because none of our kids are sick.” Merzon said on how his team feels about the decision.
The one positive test within the football program is not related to the others in quarantine; that test was taken outside of school.
“It wasn’t an easy decision for him,” Merzon said. “But we decided we wanted to do the right thing because that’s how we’re going to get through this thing by doing what’s best for everybody.”
He said Oakdale will hold practice with the remaining players Wednesday night and Thursday.
“Our players want to be together,” Merzon said. “These are exemplary kids that our community should be crazy proud of. They do the right thing in the classroom and they do the right thing outside of school.
“We have worked so incredibly hard for an opportunity to play. We feel terrible for Edison, we feel terrible for any other school that is going through this.”
This is not the first COVID-19 incident to hit this football season. Turlock High School had to sit a few of their players in Week 1 against Rocklin, including its starting quarterback. Cole Gilbert missed the game despite testing negative twice during the week, according to the Turlock Journal.
Ripon Christian had to scramble Wednesday to find a new opponent for its JV and varsity teams this Friday. They will now host Sacramento High School on Friday night, according to the Stockton Record.
Pitman announced on Thursday that they had to cancel their JV and varsity games against Lincoln as well for COVID-19 related reasons.
This story was originally published August 25, 2021 at 6:29 PM.
