Du Quoin teen tests positive for COVID-19; football game vs. Harrisburg canceled

A Du Quoin football player was diagnosed with COVID-19 this week, leading to 20 high school students having to be quarantined as of Thursday, and Saturday's varsity football game against Harrisburg canceled.

So far, none of the other quarantined students have tested positive, Superintendent Matt Hickam said Thursday. The student who tested positive has had symptoms of illness, he added, and because he was ill he did not come to Monday's Nashville game.

At least so far, Du Quoin has not heard of any Nashville players of coaches who are ill, Hickam said.

At Du Quoin High School, none of the teachers and coaches have had to be quarantined, either.

"The vast majority of teachers and coaches have been vaccinated," Hickam said. Some upperclassmen and women have also been vaccinated, he added, since the state now allows everyone age 16 and up to get shots.

Had those students not been vaccinated, they would have had to quarantine with the rest, he added.

About half of the students at home on quarantine are on the varsity football team, Hickam said. They are all upperclassmen, with several years of varsity football experience.

The Harrisburg game had to be canceled, Hickam said. Starting younger, less experienced kids in place of the upperclassmen would not have been a good idea, he said.

"We're talking about kids not being ready and maybe getting hurt," he added.

"We wish could have made it through the rest of the year, but as we well know from the past 13+ months, circumstances can change quickly," Hickam said in a note to parents on Wednesday. "Through the changes, we have seen students, faculty and staff handle adversity to the best of their ability. I know this circumstance will be no exception."

Meanwhile, the freshman football game was played Thursday and the JV game will go on as usual on Monday.

The school is also monitoring students who call in sick to the high school, to see if there was any contact between them and the student who tested positive for COVID-19.

The final game of the football season is Du Quoin vs. Carterville, scheduled to be played at Van Metre Field on April 23. Hickam said they may have to move that game, depending on when the football players come off quarantine. That's also Senior Night, for football, band and other athletes, so Hickam said the school wants its seniors to be available.