Louisiana High School Football Season Pushed Back To Oct. 8
Bad news for high school football fans. The LHSAA has announced the start of the 2020 high school football season will not start until October 8. It was originally set to start on September 3.
Why is the football season being pushed back to October? One of the deciding factors was due to Governor John Bel Edwards announcing on Tuesday that Louisiana in will stay in Phase Two for another 21 days, or three weeks.
If all goes as planned and if Louisiana moves to Phase Three at the end of the month, teams still need to have nearly two weeks in full pads with no collision per the LHSAA. Then, on top of that, high school football programs will need 21 days with collisions before games can start.
Of course, all this rests on the current situation and trend in COVID-19 cases. After the governor's latest order expires in 21 days, we will need to see if Louisiana moves into Phase Three because if we don't, then of course the start date of high school football could be delayed again or the season could be in jeopardy of not being played at all.
The plan right now is for games to begin on October 8 and 9, with either a six-game regular season with the state championships taking place as scheduled, or an eight-game regular season with the state championships delayed.
As far as fans and parents in the stands if and when the season begins, the LHSAA said local officials will make the final decision on whether or not to allow fans, keeping state and CDC guidelines in mind.