COVID-19 has forced Avon High School to drop out of contention in the South Dakota high school football playoffs.
In a social media post from the school, Avon said the Pirates would not play due to a positive COVID-19 diagnosis and several close contacts within the team.
It leads to a new matchup in the Class 9B playoffs. Corsica-Stickney will face Estelline/Hendricks at 7 p.m. Thursday in Corsica. The Jaguars originally were scheduled to face Avon. Estelline/Hendricks had the most seed points of non-playoff teams in Class 9B, making it the replacement team for any team unable to play due to COVID-19.
Aside from the Avon game, the South Dakota High School Activities Association has announced numerous time changes and postponements to the upcoming first round of the state playoffs.
Woonsocket/Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central will now host Sisseton at 5 p.m. Friday in Wessington Springs. Many games were being changed due to forecasted snow and wintery weather on Thursday in the northern and western regions of the state.
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Other games postponed to Friday include: Elkton-Lake Benton at Lemmon/McIntosh at 6 p.m. in Lemmon, Britton-Hecla at Ipswich/Edmunds Central at 7 p.m., Redfield Area at St. Thomas More at 6 p.m., Langford Area at Wolsey-Wessington at 6 p.m. in Wolsey and Timber Lake at Philip at 5 p.m.
Jones County/White River at Rapid City Christian’s start time has been moved to 6 p.m. Thursday. Faulkton Area at Herreid/Selby Area has been moved to Selby, as well.
The first round of the playoffs for Class 11B and 9-man classes start Thursday.
