1000 x 90

Avery High School Interrupts Football Season for Two Weeks following Positive COVID-19 Test

By Tim Gardner

Avery County High School in Newland announced a two-week shutdown for its football team on Wednesday, one day after an athlete tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19).

The Vikings had planned to play their Friday game against North Iredell despite the positive test as subsequent tests administered to all players returned no additional positives.

On Wednesday afternoon, though, the team tweeted that “all football operations have been suspended until March 17.” That means the cancelation of Week 2’s contest against North Iredell, as well as Week Three’s Western Highlands 2-A, 1-A Conference opener against Mountain Heritage.

The announcement did not detail any reasons for the football operations and schedule changes other than the positive COVID test.

The status of Avery County’s Week 4 game against another conference opponent, Madison, on March 19 has not been announced.