INDIANAPOLIS — Welcome to Friday Night Football in the age of COVID-19.
“Normally, our stands would be packed for the first game of the year,” said MSD of Wayne Township Superintendent Jeff Butts.
Instead, with total ticket sales limited to 1,000, the stands were not packed because of restrictions and guidelines implemented during the pandemic.
“The tickets sold out,” said student Katie Hernandez.
She couldn’t get a ticket, missing her chance during the pre-game sale.
"I was excited to go to the game. It’s the first game and I can’t go in no more,” she said.
“Social distancing isn’t bad with the ticket sales that they did,” said Ruth Price, whose son Romel, a senior, plays for Ben Davis. “We're just taking it one day at a time, just being more careful, making sure the boys are safe, checking temperatures and just trying to get them out there to do what they love.”
When players weren’t in the huddle, they were standing on the sidelines, six feet apart and wearing face masks. They could remove their masks when they got back onto the field.
Concession stand menus were reduced and customers had wear masks and practice social distancing.
Butts said bathrooms, locker rooms and the stands would all receive a deep cleaning after every game. And should a player test positive, district officials said they would do contact tracing to figure out who was exposed. Those players would be quarantined for 14 days and would then have to get 10 practices in before they could play again.
“If we had somebody come back positive tomorrow, then we may have to quarantine an entire side of the football team, offense or defense,” said Butts. That's why they'll plan events like Senior Night sooner rather than later.
Ruth Price wouldn’t miss it and hopes she won’t have to.
“I’m my son’s biggest fan, so whatever he wants to do, I’m rooting for him,” said Price.