State College football’s game against Carlisle postponed due to COVID-19 concerns
State High’s Friday night football game at Carlisle has been postponed and — according to State High head coach Matt Lintal — has been rescheduled for 6 p.m. Monday.
Lintal confirmed the new date in a text to the Centre Daily Times.
State College postponed the game as a precaution after someone who was presumed positive for COVID-19 came into contact with the football program. That person’s test result has since come back negative, according to an email sent from State College Athletic Director Chris Weakland to the families of State High football players.
“We apologize for the last-minute postponement of the game today but I have some good news,” the email read, “the COVID-19 test result came back negative. At this time, we are working to reschedule the game as soon as possible and will contact you when we finalize this plan. While today was an unfortunate situation, we must operate out of an abundance of caution when it comes to the health and safety of our community.”
Carlisle was informed of State High’s inability to travel for the game around noon Friday.
A State High spokesperson told the CDT that State College head coach Matt Lintal sent the following message to parents when the game was initially postponed:
“We have a presumed positive case of COVID-19 with a person who has been in close contact with the team. This person has been tested and is in quarantine, but we will not have test results in time to play today. Therefore, in consultation with our health and safety team, we have decided to postpone our game tonight. While disappointing, our hope is to play the game in the next couple of days. I will keep you posted as we have further developments.”
Friday night’s game would have been State High’s third of the season after it was delayed while the school was engaged in remote learning amid the local increase in COVID-19 cases. Once the district returned to in-person learning, the football team was allowed to engage in competitions with other districts.
This story was originally published October 16, 2020 at 4:24 PM.
