View from the cheap seats
A weekly perspective on sports
Casey Krautkramer Reporter The Record-Review
The 2020 high school football season is giving local athletic directors like
Craig Diedrich of Athens plenty of headaches.
Diedrich said at Monday’s Athens Board of Education meeting he’s still searching for a football opponent at the end of the high school’s homecoming week on Friday, Oct. 2.
The Athens football team was supposed to play its homecoming game against Owen-Withee, but the Blackhawks canceled their varsity football season because of a low number of players out for football.
Owen-Withee’s last-minute decision to not have a varsity football team this. season left Marawood Conference athletic directors scrambling to find another opponent on their schedules.
Diedrich told the Athens School Board on Monday he’s hoping Owen-Withee could at least bring its junior varsity football team to Athens and play against the Bluejays’ varsity squad on Oct. 2.
Athens School Board member Shanon Peel voiced her concerns to Diedrich at the meeting about the Athens varsity football team playing against a junior varsity team on Oct. 2 because it’s supposed to be varsity football parent’s night.
Diedrich told the school board he probably wouldn’t find a varsity football opponent until the very last minute if, for example, one team in the state has its scheduled game canceled because the opposing school has too many positive coronavirus cases.
A domino effect was created this week when Owen-Withee canceled its varsity football season and the Abbotsford varsity football team’s first two games were canceled this season because of the high school having several students test positive for the coronavirus.
Marathon’s football team was originally scheduled to play at Owen-Withee this Friday; Sept. 25, to begin the 2020 football season. Abbotsford was originally scheduled to begin its season with a 1 p.m. home game this Saturday; Sept. 26, against Omro.
Marathon athletic director Curt Miller moved up its home game against Omro at 7 p.m. on Friday; Oct. 9, to 1 p.m. this Saturday. It just so happens the Omro Foxes don’t need to travel as far on STH 29 west on Saturday.
It appears it’ll now be a five-team race between Athens, Colby; Edgar, Marathon and Thorp to determine who wins the Marawood Conference championship this season. Marawood football team Abbotsford will be behind the eight ball because of its first two games being canceled against Omro and Thorp. Auburndale is playing eight-man football this season, even though it appeared to me the Eagles had as many players on their sideline as the Athens Bluejays had during the scrimmage on Friday.
