Indians return to gridiron on Friday with depleted squad
Coach Derek Beard will be without over a third of his players - including the starting quarterback - when the Du Quoin football team returns to the gridiron on Friday, hosting Herrin at Van Metre Field.
"We've got a situation where (among) our sophomores, juniors and seniors we've got about 17 kids in quarantine right now," Beard said. "We do not have very many positive cases at the school, but we do have a bunch of kids still quarantined because they can come back to school in seven days, but they can't participate in athletics for 14."
The Indians will put their 1-1 record on the line after beating Chester on the road 18-7 in Week 1 and taking a forfeit last week. District 300 canceled all extracurricular activities last week due to an abundance of COVID-19 cases and quarantines in the high school. The brick was lifted on Tuesday, and sports and extracurriculars resumed.
Herrin comes in at 0-2, losing to Marion, 40-7, at home on Week 1 and to Carterville, 46-6, on the road in Week 2.
"We had a good first week and were preparing well for last week, feeling good heading to Harrisburg," Beard said. "Then we had a couple positive tests and a couple kids with symptoms.
"It was a lot of precaution to cancel last week. I don't think anybody wanted to do that, but we wanted to do the right thing and keep our kids safe and healthy. I still feel that was a good decision on our part. And now we're back and had a good practice on Tuesday.
With 49 players listed on their official roster that leaves around 32 players available for the game on Friday.
"We feel good about the 22 guys we're going to put on the field and have all the confidence in the world in those guys," Beard said.
"We are fortunate here we have a lot of kids out for football. Now those guys are going to get a chance to prove themselves and I think in the long run it's going to make us better."
On offense, the main player Du Quoin will be without is starting quarterback David Lee. Sophomore Camden Waller will make his first varsity start after being the freshman starter last spring. His first JV start at Chester two weeks ago was canceled because of lightning.
"The key this week is we just have to execute our offense, especially around the goal line while not making mistakes and taking care of the football," Beard said. "Defensively we're pretty thin, especially in the secondary, but not very many linemen are affected, so that's good. The key on defense is not giving up any big plays."