‘Everything’s weird’: Hilton Head high school football returns during COVID-19
It was almost normal.
Almost.
Families still jumped up and rang cowbells as Hilton Head Christian Academy cruised to a 40-12 win during its first home football game of the season Friday night.
Europe’s “The Final Countdown” still blasted out of a set of speakers just before kickoff.
Coaches screamed from the sidelines.
Hamburgers and hot dogs were grilled at the concession stand and kids ran around with bags of popcorn.
But pep band members wore face masks.
A cheer coach, just before 7 p.m., yelled at students to keep six feet apart.
Parents seemed to maintain social distancing in the school’s bleachers, which weren’t as packed as in years past.
“Everything’s weird,” said Doug Langhals, HHCA’s head of school. “It’s a different world we’re in.”
It was the start of a football season amid a deadly pandemic.
On the same day that 26 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Beaufort County, the Eagles took to the field, people stood for “The Star-Spangled Banner” and the sun set on what was nearly a normal night in this corner of the Lowcountry.
Like the Eagles, private high school football teams across South Carolina began play Friday in what will likely be one of the strangest seasons in history.
At HHCA, school officials reduced capacity for the team’s matchup against Dorchester Academy. Families of student-athletes, cheerleaders and band members each got three tickets for admission, and were required to sit in designated spots around the field.
About to 200-220 tickets were issued in all, Langhals said. During a typical year, he said some HHCA games might draw 1,000-2,000 people.
The majority of band members had to wear masks at all times.
Onlookers could take their face coverings off when sitting, but had to don them elsewhere.
For the most part, people did just that.
“I think I’ve gotten used to it,” said Madison MacCabe, 17, a HHCA senior, of the pandemic restrictions.
MacCabe, a cheerleader with an American flag face mask, said it’s been hard to stay positive, considering what’s going on in the world.
But she was thankful to have a football game, she said, adding that the school has handled COVID-19 safety precautions well. She said the squad had to socially distance and wear masks during practice.
Caleb Eidson, 17, a bassist in the band, said Friday night was certainly a different experience.
But still an exciting one.
Students who weren’t playing a wind instrument, the senior said, had to wear masks constantly.
And, while members of the band normally sit in the bleachers, Friday they sat just off the field in small blue chairs, away from the players and one another.
Looking around after halftime, Langhals said it was quiet, more like a middle school game.
“How does it feel to be an Eagle, Eagle, how does it feel to be up so high,” cheerleaders yelled, their calls echoing away.
A light breeze blew, a snare drum tapped and HHCA continued to push down the field.
Amber Crosby, 49, and Michael Crosby, 58, of Hilton Head, said they enjoyed the night and got a chance to watch their daughter, a cheerleader.
The school, Amber Crosby said, had been accommodating to the squad, working with them to find a face mask that was comfortable to wear while performing.
After the game ended, as families filtered away, and the scoreboard dimmed, HHCA senior right guard Christian Jackson, 17, said that near the beginning of the summer, he didn’t think there would be a football season.
The simple fact that a crowd showed up Friday night, he said, was great in and of itself.
“It’s just so encouraging,” Jackson said.
