GAINESVILLE — Just when we thought we were out, COVID has pulled us back in.
This week alone, 30 games across the state were canceled, mainly due to COVID-related issues. Not all were because of the virus, but most.
That included two huge matchups involving Northeast Georgia-area teams. The Flowery Branch-Gainesville showdown at City Park Stadium was called off on Wednesday when the Falcons had several players contact-traced or contract the virus. The game will not be rescheduled.
The Rabun County-Eagles Landing Christian Academy battle between a pair of highly-ranked teams was also called off on Wednesday because of COVID. Commerce had to cancel its matchup with Athens Academy for the same reason. Neither of those games will be rescheduled.
Only nine of the 30 teams statewide that were left without a game were able to find a replacement game by Friday.
Area teams Banks County, Riverside Military Academy, Commerce, Towns County, Union County, and Lakeview Academy also have had their schedules affected by COVID so far in the early part of the season.
MAKING HISTORY IS FUN! Last week East Forsyth, the newest program to begin in the area, scored its first-ever points on a touchdown run by freshman Adrian Reyes in a 45-7 loss to Rabun Gap. The Broncos (0-2) are playing a non-region schedule in 2021 and are still looking for their first-ever program win.
So, over the course of time just how well do most fledgling programs fare in their first season, or two, or three?
The newest program in the Northeast Georgia area to begin before East Forsyth this season was Cherokee Bluff, which opened play in 2018. The Bears are now into their fourth season and are a respectable 15-19 in their first 34 games as a program, including a 10-win season and first-ever region championship (7-3A) in 2020.
Before that, Chestatee and Flowery Branch (2002) and Lakeview Academy (2007) had been the newest programs to begin play in the area. Of those three programs, Lakeview actually had the better record after 34 games (11-23) compared to 10-23 for the Falcons and 5-29 for the War Eagles. But the Lions played a JV schedule the first two seasons.
With Hall County being the largest school district and also having the most teams in Northeast Georgia, we looked at how every program, including Gainesville, Butler, Fair Street and Riverside Military Academy, fared over their first 34 games as well.
Only four programs had winning records after their first 34 games.
Fair Street, which played from 1950 to 1961 before merging with Butler in 1962, by far was the most successful. The Tigers went 25-9 with a pair of state titles in 1956 and 1957. Riverside, which began playing in 1908, went 23-10-1, including an 8-1-1 record in 1910. West Hall, which opened in 1988, is next with a 21-13 mark, while South Hall/Johnson went 17-16-1 going back to its first season in 1958.
Gainesville began play in 1905 and went 15-18-1. Butler, which played from 1962 to 1969, went 14-19-1. East Hall opened in 1958 and went 5-26-3, while North Hall began a year earlier (1957) and went just 4-29-1 in its first 34 games.
We’ll check back in three years to see just how the Broncos stack up.
THAT'S QUITE A LIST: When Riverside heads to Atlanta to take on Druid Hills, it will be a rare first-time meeting for the Eagles and the Red Devils. Druid Hills will mark the 205th different opponent for RMA in its now 111th season of football.
However, the Eagles still have room for growth locally. They still have yet to play Gainesville, East Hall, or Chestatee in all that time.
