FREE ACCESS: Clovers change football opponent in move AD says 'makes complete sense'

Wednesday, August 26, 2020 ~ Updated 4:12 PM

In a schedule change that will benefit all four schools, Cloverdale has traded high school football opponents with Seeger for Friday night and will now travel to fellow Class 1A team Madison-Grant instead of Class 3A Twin Lakes.

Game time is 7 p.m.

Originally, Cloverdale added Twin Lakes as its week two opponent in the off-season and Seeger was scheduled to play Benton Central. The Seeger-Benton Central game was canceled, and Seeger picked up Madison-Grant as a replacement.

The Patriots will be playing their first game of the season on Friday, after canceling their season opener with Parke Heritage due to COVID-19 concerns.

Cloverdale athletic director J.J. Wade had some discussions with Twin Lakes about the viability of the Clovers, with a low roster depleted by COVID-19 quarantine and/or practice restrictions, playing a Class 3A team with 49 players that won its opener 48-6 over fellow 3A Northwestern.

Cloverdale lost its opener 84-0 to South Putnam.

“[Athletic director] Kent Adams of Twin Lakes and I had been talking about our game this week, considering they are 3A and we have some kids out with quarantine,” Wade said. “Not because of positive tests, but because of exposure [to people who tested positive]. We are down even more in numbers than we want to be.

“Madison-Grant is a 1A school that wasn’t scheduled to play either until they picked up Seeger,” Wade added. “Everybody is scrambling to pick up games. Seeger is a lot closer to Twin Lakes than we are, and Seeger would be a much better game for Twin Lakes than we would give them.”

Madison-Grant is a public high school located in Fairmount approximately 12 miles south of Marion.

Wade noted that Madison-Grant only has 21 players, and is also having quarantine issues. The Argylls did not play last week.

“They are having the same problem we are, with no positives but exposure,” Wade said. “Logistically and travel-wise it makes sense. We’re saving 15 minutes, while Seeger is saving an hour. Parity-wise, it makes complete sense. It’s a positive in all directions.”

Wade said the Clovers who are coming out of quarantine are still not cleared to play yet due to IHSAA practice guidelines.

“We have some who are coming out of it, but have to get their practices in before they can play,” he said. “That’s the difficult problem you have with football. Depending upon the day you go into quarantine, you could miss two weeks or you could miss three weeks if it falls right. If you miss five practices, you have to get four in before you can play again.”