Etowah fans are ready to cheer on the Eagles, but this season it may be a little bit more C-O-V-I-D than R-O-W-D-Y. A hot topic around campus is that the football season will be cancelled. Since the start of the 2020-2021 school year, teachers and students question what precautions must be taken due to COVID-19. Football players worry their season will be anything but traditional.  

“It would be upsetting to get our season taken from us. Football is not my focus in life, but it’s definitely something that requires a lot of time and effort,” Collin Sherrer, junior, said.   

As of now, high school football is still to begin on Sept. 4 against Creekview with the theme “Aloha to Football Season.” Although games are still scheduled, only 25% capacity is allowed in the stadium.  

“I am so excited to attend my first high school football game in the student section. I am looking forward to making new friends and new memories, so I hope it doesn’t get cancelled,” Mahkenna Knight, freshman, said.  

Since the Georgia High School Association cancelled the scrimmages on Aug. 21 and Aug. 28, senior football players are worried about the possibility of not having their last season.  

“I will be heartbroken if the football season is cancelled because I have been playing all of my life just to play for my senior year. It is the most important year of your life and something I would never want to forget,” Lane Cantrell, senior, said.   

Coaches and players have been practicing four days a week working in groups depending on their position, running scrimmages, watching film, and building strength to prepare for Friday Night Lights. With Coach Steve Sapere’s 26 years of coaching high school football, he says this is the strangest season he has ever experienced.  

“When I think of the season being cancelled, I immediately think of our players, especially our seniors.  They are a very special group of young men, and it literally hurts my heart to think of their season being taken away from them,” Sapere said.  

Scouting players looks much different this year if the season is cancelled. Upperclassmen will not get the chance to be watched live by college coaches. Key players on offense for the 2020 season include Brock Rechsteiner, Blake Bohannon, Tyler Catton, Jaden Field, and Jake Putnam. On the defensive end, Trevor Fair, Jared Weitkamp, Carlos Thornton, Austin Skinner, and Lane Cantrell are standouts.  

“Our senior group is just such an awesome group of kids—they are all really good high school players, but more than that, they enjoy working hard, being coached, and playing together,” Sapere said.  

Whether Etowah has a season, the team, students, parents, and faculty will find a way to show school spirit, support, and make the best of this unprecedented season.