Covid cases force Penn-Trafford to cancel game with Gateway

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Friday, October 9, 2020 | 3:42 PM

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It doesn’t seem like Penn-Trafford and Gateway are meant to play football against each other this season.

Their Class 5A Big East Conference first-place showdown, which was rescheduled to be played Sunday night in Monroeville, has been canceled because Penn-Trafford has shut down over covid-19 cases.

The game will not be made up.

Gateway started up football activities again this week after the school shut down for two weeks because of a covid-19 case involving an athlete.

Penn-Trafford announced Friday afternoon it had a staff member and a student at the high school test positive in a 14-day period, meaning it will close the high school for five days. The school will reopen and activities will resume Oct. 14.

All Penn-Trafford athletics, except boys team golf which plays in the WPIAL playoffs Monday, are halted until then.

“You want to do everything you can to help other schools,” Penn-Trafford athletic director Kerry Hetrick said. “But you always know you could be next. You feel for the schools that have gone through this.”

Gateway had to cancel games against Pine-Richland and Latrobe. The team hasn’t played since Sept. 18.

“We will continue to closely monitor the cases within our district and follow all directions provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Health,” Penn-Trafford Superintendent Matthew Harris said in a statement. “We understand that parents want to know details of the positive covid-19 individuals but we cannot release confidential information due to privacy laws. Please note that while we have an obligation to ensure the health, safety and welfare of all members of our community, we also have an obligation to protect the privacy of individuals affected by this virus.”

Penn-Trafford (3-1, 2-0) is ranked No. 3 in Class 5A and Gateway (2-0, 1-0) is No. 2.

Norwin also closed this week because of covid-19 exposure at several schools in the district, but it will continue to play sports.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Penn-Trafford