High school football season postponed

New Mexico's high-school football season will be at least postponed, and other sports may face delays or shortened seasons because of coronavirus restrictions.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Thursday there would be no full-contact sports such as football and soccer this fall because of rising cases of COVID-19. She acknowledged the planned opening of schools in August also was in jeopardy because of the pandemic.

Wayne Ferguson, Tucumcari's football coach and athletic director, said the announcement last week about the sport wasn't a surprise.

"I've been expecting a delay in the seasons for a while but had held out hope it would straighten out," he wrote in a text Friday. "But with cases going up I expected this outcome. I've been in contact with players and parents as I've been updated. I just try to keep them as positive as possible, but that's becoming harder and harder."

Sally Marquez, executive director of the New Mexico Activities Association, said in a video message Friday it would have more details about upcoming sports seasons this week.

Dwayne Roberts, football coach at Logan, said in a telephone interview Friday he's heard "through the grapevine" that football would be played in February and March, volleyball in November and December, basketball in January and February, and track, baseball and softball in April and May.

"It sounds like it's going to be condensed seasons where you're going to play just in your district - if we get to play," he said. "At the time being, we've got to live with the hope we're going to get to play (football) in February like they're saying."

Ferguson anticipated a similar scenario.

"We knew starting football in February was a possibility," he texted. "I expect other fall sports will have a delayed start, maybe September or October. The biggest hurdles will be adjusting schedules once we have the guidelines. It all depends on getting the virus rate under control."

Roberts said he'd heard Marquez was to make an announcement about sports July 15, but the governor's announcement came earlier than expected. The NMAA announced the football and soccer delays about an hour after Lujan Grisham's announcement Thursday.

"Nobody knew the governor was going to do what she did," he said. "I was a bit shocked that came out yesterday because Sally was supposed to let us know. She sent out an email yesterday apologizing, saying she did not know this was supposed to happen. She said she wanted to be the one to tell us. I don't think she was very happy."

An email to Marquez requesting comment about the governor's announcement went unanswered.

Tucumcari football, coming off a 1-9 year, is anticipated to be in rebuilding mode this season. But Logan made the eight-man football playoffs with a 6-5 mark and was expected to make noise because the Longhorns have a large senior class. High hopes also are seen for the school's baseball and basketball teams for the same reason.

"I just hope they get it all worked out," Roberts said. "I feel really bad for the seniors. We took a lot away from the seniors last (school) year, and now we're cutting (the seasons) from a lot of these guys. I've got eight seniors on the football, basketball and baseball teams. We've got a good shot to make some runs in all those sports this year. I know it's affecting those guys; they're getting really down."

San Jon's football future looks doubtful after it divorced from Grady with their cooperative sports agreement. The Coyotes had barely enough players to field a team last season even with Grady athletes. San Jon superintendent Janet Gladu said the district also failed to get qualified candidates to hire a football coach.

Even with the other sports, a condensed schedule may not work to San Jon's advantage, she said.

"We are waiting on what the governor says/does with sports," Gladu stated in an email. "As a small rural school, running sports simultaneously (basketball/football) will make students have to choose one or the other - which will have a significant detrimental impact on rural sport programs."

Lujan Grisham said with school openings in jeopardy because of a surge in coronavirus cases, that also is endangering the rest of the fall sports season. She urged New Mexicans to double down on their efforts to curb the virus' spread.

"Fall sports will not happen if schools cannot reopen," she said. "I expect New Mexicans to successfully flatten the curve again. Our kids are counting on us."