Though the scrimmages played last weekend didn’t technically count for anything in the standings, they were still football. After months of worrying whether the 2020 season would happen at all, that small taste was enough.
"It was probably one of the best things, just knowing that we had that hour and a half to two hours of being back to normal and doing what we love to do, just playing football," Greenwood senior Tanner Allen said. "We have so many guys that just love to play and aren’t in it for themselves."
Though the dress rehearsal might have felt like a return to normalcy, this season will be anything but normal in a number of ways.
For starters, the crowd sizes will be limited. Different schools are interpreting the state’s guidelines differently, but regardless of interpretation, nobody’s bleachers will be full. In many cases, players’ parents might be the only fans in attendance.
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Though that could make a difference in critical situations, when the noise from a charged-up student section can serve as a bit of extra fuel for a defense trying to get off the field on third down and short, Franklin coach Chris Coll believes the emptier stands generally won’t make that big of a difference to the players on the field.
"There are certain moments in a game you really feel that energy, but for the most part you’re kind of oblivious, as a player on the field, to what’s going on," Coll said. "There’s so damn much for you to focus on and do on the field when you’re playing.
"If you’re really tuned in as a player, you don’t even hear the crowd."
The difference will be felt more by the fans — those in attendance, and those that aren’t able to go.
Nowhere will the change hit harder than at Center Grove, where a stadium that holds 6,000 fans will only be able to accommodate about 1,300 this fall. The Trojans are ranked first in the state going into the season, and many of their fans will not be able to watch in person.
Aaron Hohlt, whose five sons are all current or former Center Grove football players, hopes that the mostly-empty stands won’t dampen the live game-day experience too much.
"Obviously, it’s going to be something significantly different, and it’s going to be less than what we’ve experienced in the past," Hohlt said. "That said, I think I can speak on behalf of Center Grove, the environment’s going to be done the same way we’ve always done it. Meaning, until we’re told otherwise … you’re going to have the fireworks, you’re going to have the (inflatable) helmet, you’re going to have the music. From the perspective of what a lot of people see at a Center Grove home football game, those things will continue. There just won’t be as many people there."
"One thing Center Grove fans have always done, regardless of sport, is they always figure out a way."
Coaches have arguably had to make more adjustments than anybody so far. High schools don’t have a football operations staff like major college programs do, so much of the planning around protocols has fallen on them.
Coll says that the combination of preparing around the new safety guidelines while also getting ready for a season on short time has been "mind-boggling" at times.
"As high schools, we’re not set up for this," Coll said. "It just takes time to put all this together — and time’s not something we have in a normal situation, let alone when you start adding all this stuff up."
Perhaps the most noticeable change from the players’ perspective will be the sidelines. In many cases, for starters, many teams will be dressing fewer players on game nights — Center Grove plans to suit up just 75 each Friday, while Roncalli expects to only be able to take about 65 players to road games due to limited bus capacity.
However many or few players are in uniform, the sideline experience will be different. Social distancing guidelines will have players spread out 6 feet apart between the 10-yard lines; some schools, such as Greenwood, are marking spots for people to stand on.
Allen says that while he and his fellow Woodmen handled the new sideline protocols fairly well during the team’s scrimmage at Columbus North, maintaining that self-discipline could be tougher in the heat of a real game, especially the moment a teammate breaks free for a long touchdown run.
That urge to follow the play down the sideline might be hard to fight off.
"Once we realize what we’re doing, I feel like we’ll just stop ourselves," Allen said. "But you never know; once the adrenaline gets going, it’s going to be hard to stop."
But a football season with restrictions is better than no football season at all — so players are willing to jump through whatever abnormal hoops are necessary in order to have those few hours of normal on Fridays.
"I think we did fairly well (during the scrimmage) with making sure everybody was on a dot and masked up after a play," Allen said. "Even though you’re out of breath, you’ve just got to do what you’ve got to do — whatever it takes to play, you’ve just got to do it."
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TONIGHT’S GAMES
Franklin at Danville, 7 p.m.
Bloomington North at Greenwood, 7 p.m.
Whiteland at Columbus East, 7 p.m.
Batesville at Indian Creek, 7 p.m.
Tindley at Edinburgh, 7 p.m.
Roncalli at Southport, 7 p.m.
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