CLINTON – As of now, the Mississippi High School Activities Association fall athletic season is a go, but with a two week delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That was the decision made by the MHSAA Executive Committee. “We believe this is the right decision at the right time,” said MHSAA executive director Don Hinton. “As we’ve said since last spring, this is an unprecedented and rapidly changing situation where new information can and will alter plans and schedules at any time.” MHSAA had considered swapping the fall and spring sports seasons. Practice for football can begin August 17. Scrimmages between schools are allowed beginning August 28 with games starting September 4. Games scheduled for the first two weeks of the season will not be made up. “I’m on board with their decision,” said Choctaw County football coach Jeff Roberts. “They had a really tough job.” French Camp coach Nathan Wright said “I respect the decision they made. I know they had a hard time deciding what to do and I’m sure they scratched their heads a lot and have been in a lot of meetings to figure out what to do.” Choctaw County athletic director Jim Wood was also pleased, “I’m tickled to death. Now we have some guidance. I saw an increase in energy of the kids when they found out. It’s going to be delayed, but we’re still playing in the fall.” Choctaw County will lose games with Independence and Winona and French Camp will lose games against a couple of MAIS teams, Winona Christian and Starkville Academy. All four of those games would have been on the road. Independence and Winona, like Choctaw County are both 3A schools. “I hate to lose those games. Those are good opponents,” Roberts said. “Winona has become a little bit of a rivalry because they are right there down the road.” The Chargers will scrimmage Pontotoc on Aug. 28, a 4A school, at home, with two quarters for the varsity and one quarter for the middle school team. Wright is also unhappy about games that will not be played. “Both of those games are good football atmospheres. You’re playing two good teams that are coached well.” The Panthers might scrimmage Starkville Academy. “I talked to Starkville Academy. I told them that I understood it they need to get another game, go ahead and get that,” Wright said. He was told that Starkville Academy has one possible game for that date, but will scrimmage French Camp if it cannot be arranged. Practice for cross country, swimming and volleyball can begin August 10, with competition among schools permitted August 24. Choctaw County and French Camp both have boys and girls cross country in the fall and Choctaw County has volleyball. Choctaw County had four matches scheduled prior to August 24. Coach Miranda Worrell said an attempt will be made to reschedule those matches. “We’re grateful that they are going to let us play. We were afraid for a while that we wouldn’t get to play, or it might be spring before we could do anything,” Worrell said. Now that MHSAA has made a decision, cross country coaches Andy Young for Choctaw County and Joe Watkins for French Camp said they will be able to formulate schedules. Early meets at Madison Central and West Lauderdale that Choctaw County would have attended are cancelled. If they are rescheduled, Young said the Chargers will probably participate. He would like to have his teams run in 10 meets “if possible,” including meets hosted by Pontotoc, Eupora and West Lauderdale. French Camp will have virtually the same schedule as last year. Watkins hopes to host two meets and participate in meets at Madison, Saltillo and Choctaw Trails, site of the state meet. The French Camp girls finished third at the state meet last year and Watkins is looking for another strong season. “I think this will be the best team I have every had.” Executive Committee president Kalvin Robinson said “The board felt these changes will give all of us more time to try to get back into the routine of school. There are going to be many challenges — ones we’re anticipating and those we don’t even know about yet — in returning to on-campus learning. It’s going to be different than what we’ve experienced in the past. Hopefully pushing back the start of the fall sports seasons will help make that transition a little smoother for everyone involved.” Hinton said the MHSAA will continue to make every effort to keep sanctioned sports and activities in place for the 2020-21 school year. “We know how important these extracurricular activities are to the students, parents, families, schools and communities of our state. We’re staying optimistic and doing everything we can to move forward for the upcoming school year. We’re listening to and relying on the medical experts, government officials and school administrators who are working to manage this situation. This is something none of us has experienced before.” For football, 1A, 5A and 6A schools will play 10 games, 2A, 3A and 4A nine games. The playoff schedule is unchanged, with first round games November 6 for 2A, 3A and 4A and November 13 for 1A, 5A and 6A. Volleyball playoffs are scheduled to begin October 13. The state cross country meet is set for October 31 and November 2.
