OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — It was an intra-district dual for two Shawnee Mission schools that celebrated homecoming Friday against one another.
Shawnee Mission South played SM Northwest in an unscheduled football game Friday after their respective opponents cancelled the games due to COVID-19 concerns.
SM South had been scheduled to play Olathe South and SM Northwest had been scheduled to play Olathe Northwest, but after both Olathe schools backed out at the last minute the Raiders and Cougars clashed instead.
“It all started yesterday afternoon when it was reported to us that Olathe Northwest had a positive COVID test of one of their players," SM Northwest Athletic Director Angelo Giacalone said. "We started looking for football games. We came up dry across the board. Then, earlier this morning, (the SM South athletic director) and I talked because he had an opening because Olathe South also had a player who apparently tested positive.”
Olathe Public Schools would not confirm that players for the Ravens and Falcons had tested positive.
“The schools involved will be communicating with their student-athletes and parents any quarantine restrictions or other guidance as we work through these exposures with the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment,” Cody Kennedy, a spokesperson for Olathe Public Schools, said in a statement.
The revised homecoming plan for SM South and SM Northwest came together quickly and represented a first the SMSD programs to combine the homecoming ceremonies.
“It’s tradition and I’m so grateful we got to get it in,” Laura Mitchell, whose son is a senior with the Cougars football program, said. "We get to do the court announcement."
A spokesperson for the Johnson County health department said it did not instruct Olathe to cancel its games. Such decisions are left up to the individual districts.
