NEW MANCHESTER — A football season full of anxiety and turmoil abruptly ended the only way it could for West Virginia teams Saturday night, especially for Oak Glen.
Following the release of the latest COVID map, the WVSSAC decided to cancel the Super Six and award championships to teams based off of the colors and latest games played.
The greatest two-year run in Oak Glen history ends without a Class AA trophy. Instead, it concludes with numerous questions, including, “What if?”
“There is no pandemic handbook. I think the COVID map may have been a good try to start to figure things out at the beginning. But, I feel real strong that you have to make adjustments sometimes,” Oak Glen head coach Ted Arneault said. “Good intentions for people’s safety may have resulted in uncertainty and hardship on sports teams and schools to go about their daily business without the constant anxiety of the rug being pulled from under them.
“I really wish that the powers that be could’ve maybe foreseen this situation based on how the season had gone and made adjustments. I really hope that they’ve learned from their mistakes for winter and spring sports so that teams are never put in this position again.”
The Golden Bears and Hancock County did all they could to face Robert C. Byrd on Sunday.
They were orange on last week’s COVID map, and all indications pointed to staying there or moving to red with numbers spiking.
However, numbers slowly dipped between Monday and Thursday. On Friday, the numbers dropped by a full percent. Come Saturday, Hancock County was gold.