Players on the Leland High School and Simmons High School football teams will get a chance to suit up this fall after all.
The Hollandale and Leland school boards both recently announced that they had made decision to reinstate football.
The Leland Cubs’ season will start on Oct. 2 and will last five games. The Simmons Blue Devils are tentatively scheduled to begin play on Oct. 16, and their season will last three games. Both programs are scheduled to play enough district games to qualify for the state playoffs.
“Athletics is a big part of the development of our students, so we feel like it is safe enough now to begin playing as long as we do it safely,” Leland athletic director Patansy Miller-Hampton said.
Students at Leland High will begin returning to in-class sessions in October.
Simmons first-year head coach Jeremy Packer said he and his coaching staff are still finalizing all the details about when they will begin football practices, but the plan is for the Blue Devils to begin their season Oct. 16 with a home game against Ethel. The Blue Devils will them plan a road game against McAdams Oct. 23 before ending their season at home on Oct. 30.
“Our kids have been seeing just about everybody else be allowed to play football, and they were wondering why they could not play,” Coach Packer said. “We are really excited to get started.
The decision made by the Hollandale and Leland school boards comes a week after the Western Line School District announced that they would reinstate fall sports beginning on Oct. 2. The first game is scheduled for Oct. 2 with O’Bannon High School traveling to Riverside High School.
Both O’Bannon and Riverside had players transfer to area private schools once it was announced in August that Western Line was not playing fall sports; however, Simmons’ Packer said none of his players have transferred out of his program.
“I think it shows how dedicated these players are to the program,” Packer said. “This is great for all the players but especially for the seniors on the team.”
One of the returning Blue Devils will be Vontrez Rush who, as a sophomore, rushed for 1,322 yards and 16 touchdowns on his way to being named the Delta Democrat-Times Newcomer of the Year.
