Mississippi’s 2020 high school football season continues to be a work in progress. Just a couple hours after Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced his executive order on Friday afternoon, severely limiting those who could attend high school sporting events in August, the Jackson Public Schools announced they were canceling all sports and extracurricular activities for the fall semester.
JPS had already hinted about the move a couple weeks ago, but seemed to back away from the idea temporarily. Multiple public school districts in the Mississippi Delta, including the Greenville and West Bolivar districts had already made the decision not to compete in the fall.
This has severely affected several schools’ football schedules, including Ethel and McAdams. Of the eight schools in Region 3-1A of the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA), McAdams and Ethel are the only two who aren’t in the Mississippi Delta, which has been heavily impacted by COVID-19. Only four of those eight schools are currently planning to compete this fall.
Holmes Central, another area school, was scheduled to play football against two JPS Schools — Provine and Murrah — this season.
The executive order limits attendance at all K-12 events to two attendees per student participant in the event. Face coverings are required for all events, whether they are indoor or outdoor.
The order does not pertain to coaches, directors, teachers, officials, medical personnel, staff/workers, and media.
The order was set to expire at 8 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 31, if it’s not extended.
The first official MHSAA football games aren’t scheduled until the first week of September, but most schools have jamborees (practice games) scheduled for Friday night, Aug. 28.
The Mid-South Association of Independent Schools had a handful of regular season games scheduled for Aug. 14 and a nearly full state of football contests scheduled for Aug. 21.
MAIS fast-pitch softball has been underway since the last weekend in July and the MHSAA volleyball season is set to begin the last full week of August.
Look a more detailed story, including comments from Kosciusko and Attala County school administrators in the Aug. 20 edition of The Star-Herald.
