On Mon Aug. 23 news reached the student body that Hampton High School had withdrawn from the game on Fri Aug. 27. Information concerning this sudden change was released by Head Coach Lee Belknap. “I just received official word that the game against Hampton this Friday night is canceled due to COVID-19 reasons,” Belknap said.
Athletic director Leon Hammond was asked about the situation and provided some clarification. “We were notified yesterday by Hampton’s AD [Athletic Director] that due to COVID cases on their football team… they were not going to play the game,” Hammond said.
GHSA rules state that if two teams wish to reschedule a game they must have the corresponding bi-weeks in order for the game to be fit into the season. However, McIntosh and Hampton have two different bi-week dates, meaning the game against Hampton has been canceled.
This left our football team without an opponent and only three days to find a replacement. “We have other teams that are interested [to play against McIntosh]… because they have had teams cancel on them so that’s kind of commonplace around the state right now,” said Hammond.
LaGrange High School is one of those teams. “It probably will be LaGrange more than likely, just waiting to sign the contract for GHSA to approve that we are good to play,” Hammond said on Tue Aug. 24.
Later that day information related to the football game was released on “The Cheif Events” Twitter page. The tweet confirmed that there will be a football game hosted on Fri at McIntosh against LaGrange. Tickets will be sold online on the “GoFan” website.
https://gofan.co/app/events/379684?schoolId=GA5150
“We look forward to seeing everybody on Friday night,” Hammond said, “and putting the best teams on the field and hopefully come away with a win.”