Confusion reigned Friday when a Florida high school football game was halted at halftime due to COVID-19 concerns. According to the
South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Broward County Athletic Association called the game with host
Dillard (Fort Lauderdale) leading rival
Deerfield Beach (Fla.) 21-0. Dillard was awarded a 21-0 victory after Deerfield Beach players left the field at intermission.
This may be the first high school football game stopped during play by COVID-19 concerns.
Deerfield Beach coach Jevon Glenn texted reporter Adam Lichtenstein that the BCAA official said one of his players had "shown COVID-like symptoms at a clinic."
"Dillard said (they) didn't feel comfortable going back out on the field," Glenn wrote in the text to Lichtenstein. "Once they told Dillard that the player participated in the game, Dillard said they were uncomfortable continuing the game. We pulled the player from the game in the second quarter."
Glenn tweeted he was not aware of such symptoms and further questioned why the issue came up at halftime and not before the game.
"Why wasn't the game cancelled beforehand. If they were so worried about COVID, my team and my life was in danger as well," he wrote on Twitter. "I guess we are only protecting the football players and not all the students and staff he has been around all week."
A BCAA official said the decision to stop the game was a mutual decision.
"The game was called by both school administrations and they were unanimous in their decision," BCAA Director of Athletics and Student Activities Shawn Cerra told Lichtenstein.
The cancellation comes on the heels of rising cases in COVID-19 throughout Florida, which saw 21,723 new cases on Thursday with a seven-day average of 19,902, according to statistics from the New York Times.
The increase comes as Gov. Ron DeSantis continued his fight against mask mandates in schools following his July executive order banning schools from requiring them.
Deerfield Beach opened the season with a 30-22 victory on Aug. 27, the same day Dillard defeated Boyd Anderson.
Senior writer/editor Aaron Williams contributed to this report.
