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Monroe Central Football Season on Brink of Ending

WOODSFIELD — The remainder of the Monroe Central football season is in total limbo.

By order of the Monroe County Health Department, several members of the Monroe Central football team were ordered to go into quarantine after contact tracing determined they were exposed to a person who has since tested positive for COVID-19.

Head Coach Josh Ischy and his team were going through their normal Monday routine watching and breaking down film following their Division VII playoff loss at Glouster-Trimble and moving forward with preparations for Frontier.

“I got a call from the Monroe County Health Department and they gave me a list of names of kids who had to leave immediately and begin to quarantine,” Ischy recalled.

Because of the two-week quarantine, the Seminoles games with the Cougars and their Week 10 game, which hasn’t been determined yet because of the ongoing playoffs, are off.

The Ohio High School Athletic Association is permitting teams to play regular season games to the second week of November, but Ischy isn’t sure how things will proceed.

“We’re exploring some things as to what we may need to do in terms of re-acclimation after being off for two weeks, so nothing is for certain yet,” Ischy said. “We’re still holding out hope.”

Though he didn’t disclose who he and Athletics Director John Ischy had reached out to, Josh Ischy did admit that some schools simply said they weren’t interested in extending into November.

“We hate to think that the season might be over, but if it is, we’ll take that pill and swallow it,” Josh Ischy said.

Prior to the season when whether or not anyone would play was up in the air, Ischy and his coaching staff had their normal meetings to lay out plans for the season and expectations.

“We were hopeful that our seniors would be able to get at least five games in, and we got eight under our belts,” Ischy said. “So, we’re pleased about that part, but it’s tough because we’re now starting to play our best football and I was excited to see what we could do the last couple of weeks.”

While basically all area schools have been impacted one way or another by the coronavirus, Monroe Central’s football program has been on a rollercoaster like no other.

When the OHSAA announced the playoff brackets almost three weeks ago, originally the Seminoles and Strasburg were listed as a “no contest” because Strasburg was quarantined.

However, the Tigers got clearance from the state — and Monroe agreed — to play the first-round game on Saturday while other Division VII games were on Friday.

Before getting to that game, Josh Ischy and John Ischy — who serves as the Seminoles defensive coordinator — were both ordered to quarantine through contact tracing. So, they received clearance to coach from their vehicles in a story that seemingly went viral on social media.

“We had a practice one day when we were quarantined over Zoom,” Ischy said. “We watched film on Zoom and laid out the game plan that way.”

Thinking much of their problems were behind them, and with the Ischy Brothers allowed out of quarantine, Monroe Central, which shifted to remote learning at the high school last week, prepared for Trimble. However, just before boarding the bus for Glouster, the Monroe County Health Department called again and sent two more players into quarantine, meaning Monroe dressed just 15 players against the Tomcats.

“It’s definitely been a whirlwind,” Josh Ischy said. “Obviously, no one has ever experienced anything like this. We’ve just tried to roll with it and keep trying to make the best decision for the kids and be prepared for sudden changes at the spur of the moment.”

Ischy was most excited to report that — to his knowledge — no member of the Seminoles team had tested positive for COVID-19.

“Our guys have handled the whole thing really well,” Josh Ischy said. “I know they left it all out on the field (last) Friday and the final score (47-26) doesn’t indicate how close the game was. Our seniors can definitely hold their heads high.”

Regardless if the season proceeds or not, Ischy and his squad will meet in person when all of the players are eligible to return.

“We did all of the special things like senior night and our seniors took their final walk on the field (after the Strasburg game), but there are still some traditional things we didn’t get to do,” Josh Ischy said. “As numbers seem to be going up across the state and country, I am not sure how likely it is (to play again), but we’re hopeful. I told the players as they were leaving on Monday that I’d be in touch as I got more information, but I don’t have all of the answers yet.”

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