The start of the high school football season, usually synonymous with the end of the dog days of summer, is just getting underway in Massachusetts.
As Charlestown High School, where the second week of football practice was being held in March, something was clearly off kilter with the timeline. On the field, the Townies were pushing through the chilly evening as they made their way through their stretching routine. In the past, these early season practices took place in the sweltering heat of late August, not the hoodie weather of late winter.
For senior Eudrick Mbah, it’s different from the practice he’s used to. But he’s just grateful for any playing time at all.
“I didn’t think we were gonna have this season," he said. "The fall season put all the way in spring, you know?”
After no football in the fall and uncertainty for months over whether there would be a spring season, football teams across the state have been back on the field for two weeks in what the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association is calling the “Fall II” season. It’s a fall season in name only. And, like so many other aspects of life that the pandemic has altered, it looks a whole lot different.
Avery Esdaile, athletic director of the Boston Public Schools, recalled just how uncertain even getting to this point seemed back when school started.
“In August, I wouldn’t say that — especially seeing what other states were doing and kind of mixed responses — I wouldn’t have said confidently that we would be able to be here today," he said.
For Boston schools, being able to play winter sports after having only shortened golf and cross country seasons in the fall helped to set up Fall II. It’s wedged between the winter and spring seasons because football, cheerleading and other sports were deemed too risky at the beginning of the school year.
No matter the school or sport, getting ready for this season has been a challenge. At Boston College High School, head coach Jonathan Brillo hadn’t seen his whole team in person for a year until last week.
One of the big things Brillo and his staff harped on was for their players to get used to wearing masks while working out.
“Get out, try different masks, go run with one for five minutes and then take it off and then go run for five minutes with another one," he said. "And prepare yourself for the season that way.”
Masks under clear helmet face masks may be as vivid an image as any to illustrate the challenge of playing under the cloud of a pandemic. There’s a whole slew of rules this season, like huddles that only face one way, to decrease the chance of transmission.
Though the football season has finally arrived, it’s not guaranteed to continue.
"And at any point, something could happen and it gets shut down again," Brillo said. "I think all our guys — I use the term 'grateful' a lot. They're happy, they're grateful, they're appreciative to be out there. And they're not taking any of this for granted."
Back at Charlestown, Eudrick Mbah is the clear frontman of his team, leading stretches and being the first one up in drills. He's a utility player and captain who is planning at playing multiple positions if necessary
At practice, it was clear some players were simply trying to just get back in shape after a long delay, let alone get ready for football.
But despite these hurdles, Mbah is more than ready for games to kick off again.
"The energy built up, because this is what we've been waiting for," Mbah said. "We finally get the chance to do what we love doing, playing football."
The return of high school football during a pandemic is strange, one no matter where you go in the state. But for everyone involved, it’s a chance for the return of a fall tradition the pandemic had shut down.
