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Cocke Co. High School to enforce social distancing with fewer ticket sales for football season

Going to a high school football during the COVID-19 pandemic means fewer people and more masks, but still as much passion for supporting local teams.

NEWPORT, Tenn. — There are only 7 days left before Friday night football starts in East Tennessee. If there's one thing small towns like Newport are really craving right now, it's high school football.

"After missing spring sports, I think the people in the area are very hungry to watch sports of any kind," said Cocke County High School Athletic Director, A.C. Willis.

Usually, games in Cocke County bring out thousands of fans.

"If this was a regular football game it would probably be our best gate and largest crowd in years," said Willis.

But regular football games aren't a thing anymore.

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Willis said he's worked to measure the whole stadium to see how many people can fit inside while social distancing. He did the math and determined that 1,700 people can safely attend football games.

"That does include the players," said Willis. "That includes anyone inside the gates."

Players, cheerleaders, band members, workers, volunteers and fans are all included in that figure.

It may sound like a lot of people, but Willis said they're trying some new things. For the first time, they're opening up a large grassy bank on the visitor's side of the stadium and are encouraging people to sit on blankets.

The track around the field is open to the public, and Willis said they'll have one lane dedicated to people who want to bring their own chairs and sit along the fence. One lane will be reserved for walking.

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In the bleachers, people will be sitting every other row. Willis measured out so that each seat is 32 inches across. Families can sit together.

In order to avoid crowds at the concession stands, Willis said people will be walking through the stands selling popular items. It's the same concept as a peanut seller at a baseball game. Instead, it's in a football stadium.

Willis said he hopes people take the rules seriously.

"Enforcing the masks is very difficult," he said. "We are stating that we have a no mask, no entry policy."

Cocke County does not have a countywide mask mandate.

There will also be temperature checks at the entrance to the stadium.

Once they've sold all the tickets, the gates will close.

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Willis said just one case of COVID-19 can shut down the football program for two weeks. He can't even confidently say their first game will happen. Someone at the school or the rival school could be exposed to the virus, and everything could be called up.

But he said he's hopeful people will follow the rules for the sake of the students.

"We don't want them to lose their fall season," he said. "They've worked hard. They're excited. They deserve to have a fall sports season."

The school has moved senior night to the second home game, instead of waiting until the last home game as usual, just in case the season gets canceled before then.

Willis said hosting a football game costs a minimum of $1,500 each game.

This fall, the school is banking on donations to make up for the loss in ticket sales, since they need to drop the number of people who could attend games.

Cocke County hosts Campbell County Friday, August 21 at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets will be available through pre-sale and at the gate.

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