At around 7:00 a.m. this morning, an email was rolled out to the staff at Maize South from Principal David Hickerson explaining that the junior and varsity football teams had been put under quarantine due to two players showing symptoms of the COVID-19 virus.

The team and Maize South administration spent the week trying to find a new opponent for the Homecoming football game that was previously cancelled by USD 261 Haysville via Twitter this past Monday, Sept. 21.

All individuals within close contact with the players have received information as well.

District rules state that close contacts shall not return to Maize South High School for class or extracurricular activities pending further notice. At this time, close contacts may not return until 14 days have passed since last exposure to the presumptive positive person, or until notified that the presumptive positive person has received a negative test result.

Senior quarterback Colin Shields knows his teammates are respecting the protocol in place to reduce any chance of spreading the virus and get back to the field.

“We’re all just hoping our teammates’ test comes back negative and that they start to feel better and get back to being healthy as soon as they can. Everyone on our team has been following all the guidelines we’ve been told to follow in order to reduce the risk,” said Shields.

If the two players who have shown symptoms test positive, they will have to go for a two-week-long quarantine away from the game. Brandon Bowles, senior linebacker, sees only the positives for his team through the possible COVID disruption.

“We can come back better for our next game by staying in shape at home and studying film,” said Bowles. “Our team will persevere. We will follow our compass and stay positive through this.”

If  the team is healthy and players do not test positive for COVID-19, they still have a chance to line up against the Newton Railers in Newton at 7:00 p.m. next Friday.