O’Fallon High School football team quarantined after positive COVID test

The varsity football team for O’Fallon Township High School is quarantining after a player tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday.

“Due to the nature of the football drills and practices, it must be presumed that most varsity players were in close contact and exposed to the virus,” Superintendent Darcy Benway wrote in a statement.

Football is classified by the Illinois Department of Public Health as a higher-risk sport for spreading COVID.

Football was moved from the fall to the spring because of the pandemic, and the abbreviated high school season kicked off Friday.

The O’Fallon varsity team will cancel its next two games. The Panthers were scheduled to play Belleville West on Friday and Alton on April 2.

Benway said the district will work with the Illinois High School Association to determine their ability to play East St. Louis on April 9. By that time, players will have quarantined for just over the two weeks recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This story was originally published March 24, 2021 at 6:06 PM.