Huron County View

Harbor Beach football forced to forfeit

Pirates put into quarantine as a COVID precaution



The Harbor Beach football team takes the field during a Sept. 18 game with Ubly. The Pirates saw their season come to an unexpected finish, when they were forced to go into quarantine due to COVID-19 precautions. The quarantine meant they had to forfeit their Division 8 district semifinal game with Flint Beecher. (Photo by Paul P. Adams)

The Harbor Beach football team takes the field during a Sept. 18 game with Ubly. The Pirates saw their season come to an unexpected finish, when they were forced to go into quarantine due to COVID-19 precautions. The quarantine meant they had to forfeit their Division 8 district semifinal game with Flint Beecher. (Photo by Paul P. Adams)

HARBOR BEACH – Harbor Beach’s football history is long and storied.

Legendary coaches like Jack Dillion and Troy Schelke have instilled a toughness in the program.

Since 1950, the Pirates have lost 263 games, to a variety of opponents across the state.

But there was one opponent they couldn’t overcome – COVID-19.

Last week, the team was informed that its members would have to enter quarantine, resulting in a forfeit of its Division 8 district semifinal game with Flint Beecher.

It’s the first forfeit Harbor Beach has ever had.

“Forfeiting goes against everything that football is all about,” said Schelke. “It’s just another sad chapter in the year of 2020. If everyone comes out of it healthy, we can live with it.”

Schelke wanted to address rumors that there is an outbreak at Harbor Beach and the football team.

The quarantine was a precautionary measure due to a someone associated with the team having close contact with a person who was COVID positive.

“A scenario that can happen is let’s say I test positive and someone has close contact with me for 15 minutes over a 24-hour period, then that person is considered positive regardless of how they test,” Schelke said.

He added: “Just because we’re in quarantine doesn’t mean with have an outbreak of COVID. So far as I know, everyone on the football team is healthy and doing well.”

With games being forfeited at an alarming rate, due to COVID-related reasons, Schelke and his team were aware it could end at any moment and took the protocol seriously.

“Ever since COVID was a thing, we knew we could be shutdown at any time,” he said. “We preached to them to do the right things and they did. We all knew in the back of our minds that it could happen. But when it does happen, it hits you hard.”

Added Schelke: “We took the precautions seriously; it wasn’t anyone’s fault. This could have happened to any of us. There’s no blame for anybody, it’s just an unfortunate situation. There’s no anger or resentment for anybody.”

The Pirates were coming off a 28-6 win over Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary.

After an off day on Sunday, they gathered for practice last Monday, when they were informed of the news that their season was suddenly over.

“Fortunately, we were together, so we had time to talk and decompress,” Schelke said. “Forfeiting is not an easy thing. I felt like the guys played their best game of the year in our final game. It’s really a tough pill swallow to not be able to continue that.”

He added: “Beecher wouldn’t have been easy, but I think if we worked hard, we would have had a chance to beat them.”

Schelke felt especially bad for his seniors, which include Mason Booms, Dylan Kadar, Ethan Hessling, Elliott Siemen, Dakota Deer and Jayson Siemen.

Although the season did not end the way anyone in Harbor Beach wanted, Schelke was thankful for the seven games he had with the players.

“Very rarely do you get to go out with a win,” Schelke said. “While we’re very saddened by the forfeiture, we’re very happy with the way we played against a pretty darn good MLS team. We went out on a high note, so that’s a real positive.”

He added: “I hope people realize that quarantine is preventative and it’s not the end of the world. Hopefully, everyone stays healthy and in two weeks, everyone is back to school.”