Covid-19 rewrites football roster.
By: Lance Ausseresses
One big question for football is what makes a good team. “Getting everyone to buy into the picture and understand the effort and the commitment that it takes on a daily basis to build a good program,” said AHS Football Coach Nathan White. Covid-19 has restricted the values of a football team for the past year and a half, making it tougher for the coaches and players to execute on the field.
Once Covid-19 hit during the spring of 2020, everything was shut down. From stores to schools, the whole country was on lockdown. Then as Covid-19 dragged on, the question came up about sports. Ohio schools decided to attempt a football season later that year.
Concerns about the virus limited activities for the team. Many aspects of football were missing, which made the feeling of being on a team fade away. White explained, “There wasn’t a ton of fun on the side. It was kind of just all business, show up, go to practice, go home.” Because of the restrictions of Covid-19, the values of teammates and having fun faded away while sticking strictly only on the field.
During the 2020 season, attendance was limited to 10% capacity, causing the fan involvement to decline drastically. The team has not fully recovered from the loss in attendance during the past year.
After a very different and confusing year, the Bulldogs were back for their 2021 season with revenge. Now that Covid-19 restrictions loosened, the football organization was ready to tackle the next challenge. Or so they thought.
Days before the start of a new season, five starters tested positive for Covid-19. The weekly Covid-19 phone call explained the players would miss the next two weeks of football. Now, under pressure from losing talented, skilled kids, the freshmen were in line next. Putting five freshmen in to start for the first time in high school with days before the first game, the team had to make drastic changes to the offense and defense to a more run-based attack.
Athens fell to the Philo Electrics, losing 41-0 on Aug. 8. Although the team changed how they played, the pressure and the rapid shift of the offense outweighed the favor of the game to Philo. Athens fell 0-3 early in the season, creating questions and concerns about the team’s future.
Although the outcome was not what the team had hoped for, White was happy with the execution on the part of his underclassmen. “Without a doubt, you know the biggest thing you wonder is, are the Friday night lights kind of too big?” White said. “Even when you are out there for the first time as a junior or senior it can be a little overwhelming.”
However, the team is learning to handle the pressure well. The Bulldogs bested the Meigs Marauders 49-35 in their most recent test on Oct. 1, improving their record to 2-5. They later fell to a final record of 3-7 with a 41-6 loss to the Nelsonville York Buckeyes.