MURPHY – Murphy football coach David Gentry sent N.C High School Athletic Association commissioner Que Tucker a text message over the weekend – a link to a story with the headline "Governor clears Tennessee prep teams for contact."
"Oh my! I know this makes it tough for us to stomach," Tucker responded.
"Yes, it's tough when you're only 18 to 20 miles from both Georgia and Tennessee," Gentry texted back.
On July 31, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed Executive Order No. 55, which allows contact during practice for football and girls' soccer. The date for the start of the Tennessee football season remains Aug. 21 while the NCHSAA only moved to Phase 2, starting today, which allows the use of footballs for the first time since summer workouts began June 15.
Georgia will begin its 2020 football season Sept. 4 and began padded practices this week. The NCHSAA has set a tentative return to fall athletics on Sept. 1, and plan to announce a decision later this month whether or not to change the timeline.
More: Fall without football: State-by-state look at plans for high school play amid coronavirusMore: WNC high school football: Week-by-week schedule
"It's not only the delay, but the not knowing what's next," said Gentry, 73, who has won eight state titles at Murphy and holds the state record for most career wins with 416. "We get a football, well hell, 18 miles from us, they've got helmets on. We know people right next door to us that are preparing for a season. We seem to be light years away from them."
The South Carolina High School League announced last month that football practices would be able to start Aug. 17 with the first games scheduled Sept. 11. The playoffs would be reduced from five rounds to four, with the state championship games happening Nov. 20.
Virginia has already voted to move its football season to the spring of 2021.
More: N.C. High School Athletic Association will move to Phase 2
More: Virginia moves high school football season to 2021
Hayesville football coach Chad McClure said he's worried he'll lose his "entire non-conference schedule" because of the different return to play timelines with border states. Hayesville planned to open the season with three Tennessee and two Georgia opponents.
McClure said he's already lost the first three games of the 2020 season and hopes he can salvage the last two.
"I try and tell our kids that there are just things we can't control," McClure said. "But living so close to the border, you worry about kids going across the line."
Two players from Hayesville's varsity football team have already transferred to out of state schools, according to McClure.
Gentry said he's also lost his season-opener against Pisgah and moved a home game against Franklin, originally scheduled for Aug. 28, to an open date on Sept. 31. Murphy lost another home game, a Sept. 4 matchup against Georgia Force.
"I don't understand why if Tennessee and Georgia can play football, why can't we?" Gentry said. "I think we need to make sure and take precautions and then go ahead and go play."
David Thompson is an award-winning reporter for the Citizen Times. He can be reached at dthompson@citizentimes.com, at 828-231-1747, or on Twitter at @acthshuddle.
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Murphy's David Gentry: 'We get a football, 18 miles from us, they've got helmets on' - Citizen Times
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