MATTAWAN, MI - Mattawan will not be competing in the 2020 Michigan high school football playoffs after multiple positive COVID-19 tests in the high school.
A spokesperson for the Michigan High School Athletic Association confirmed Mattawan has withdrawn from postseason play, which is scheduled to begin next week.
Mattawan was scheduled to play Battle Creek Central on Friday to close out the regular season, but the school canceled its game midweek.
Head football coach David Arrasmith and athletic director Chad Yager declined comment on why Mattawan canceled its Week 6 game, deferring questions to Superintendent Randy Fleenor, who did not respond to multiple requests for comment at the time of publication.
However, Fleenor put out a notice addressed to Mattawan families and the community on Thursday, stating that the district is moving to a fully remote learning model from Oct. 23 to Nov. 6 based on the number of students and staff that have tested positive or are currently quarantined due to a close contact exposure to individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19.
In the memo, Fleenor said six high school students, two middle school students and one staff member tested positive for the coronavirus, while more than 150 students and staff are under quarantine.
RELATED: Mattawan middle, high schools closed due to COVID-19
Mattawan is one of several Michigan high school football teams to withdraw from the 2020 playoffs due to COVID-19, joining Utica and Felch North Dickinson.
Part of the MHSAA’s plan for the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season was to allow all teams to make the playoffs for the first time in state history to alleviate the concern of losing players to quarantine or having to forfeit games due to positive COVID-19 tests.
In a Wednesday radio interview on Bill Simonson’s “The Huge Show,” MHSAA executive director Mark Uyl said the number of football teams that couldn’t play due to COVID-19 has dropped in each of the past three weeks, from 20 schools in Week 3 to 19 schools in Week 4 and 14 schools in Week 5, but with coronavirus cases rising across Michigan this week, there’s a possibility more teams see their seasons come to an early and unexpected end due to the virus.
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