By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

          The first major state high school football victim of the COVID-19 pandemic is northwest of Atlanta.

          A doubleheader at Rome’s Barron Stadium with the host Wolves against Rockmart and Cedartown facing Carrollton as part of the Corky Kell Classic have been pulled because of health concerns in the region.

          Rome City Schools superintendent Lou Byars told the Rome News-Tribune that school officials “expressed our concerns (Friday)” and that Corky Kell officials chose to move on without those teams and that location.

          Byars told the paper that the city school system didn’t believe it could adequately follow general health and sanitiation guidelines to hold such an event in one spot. One major aspect: completely sanitizing the entire stadium of aboug 6,500 seats between games, which would include removing fans and teams between games.

          Rome head coach John Reid told the paper that hopes of playing one game of the doubleheader at Barron were nixed by Corky Kell officials.

          Hoover, Ala., has withdrawn because that state hasn’t adjusted its schedule to match the GHSA, which pushed back the season’s start by two weeks. Greater Atlanta Christian has taken that spot.

          ScoreAtlanta incorrectly reported Monday morning in a tweet that  “there will be no high school football games in Floyd and Polk Counties this season,” and that the Corky Kell was pulling out of the games in Floyd County.

          It later deleted the tweet and updated an accompanying story. School officials from those counties told various media that football had not been canceled.

          ScoreAtlanta posted a copy of the letter in the story, from district health director Dr. Gary Voccio to Byars, dating July 24. He cited also COVID-19 numbers in Carroll County, home to Carrollton, as well as Polk and Floyd counties, as concerns.