Telegraph file photo by TOM KING Merrimack's Kyle Crampton would be the likely heir apparent to the starting QB job for the Tomahawks, but a final decision by the Merrimack school board on whether to play football has not yet been made.

MERRIMACK – They’re in.

The Merrimack school board earlier this week gave formal approval via a 5-0 vote to allow Merrimack High School to play football this fall.

A couple of weeks ago, after approving athletic director Mike Soucy’s proposal to play all other sports, the board tabled a decision on football, which was not included in the proposal. Soucy at the time said regrettably he couldn’t come up with protocols to make the sport fully safe during the current pandemic, but said it would be up to the board.

“We’re going to go forward as safely as we possibly can,” Soucy said. “Our coaches are very good at complying with the protocols and we’ll use all those protocols.

“Of course there are always going to be serious concerns, and there are with everything (all the other sports). But we feel it’s the best direction for us to go as a school.”

Merrimack is the area’s fourth Division I school to allow football, along with Nashua North and South and Bishop Guertin. The fifth, Alvirne, will reportedly make its decision on Thursday.

Soucy said the concern of course is that any positive test of a student athlete, including football, could spread to the rest of the student population. Merrimack is using the hybrid format (part remote, part in school) as it begin the school year next week. The other thing, he noted, is, unlike colleges, the athletes won’t be tested, but will be temperature checked and must complete a wellness survey before each practice and game.

“Look, there’s a risk,” Soucy said. “Everything’s a risk. I’m a little more nervous about football because of the lack of physical distancing and tackling. That face-to-face contact. There’s contact in field hockey, too, but the rules limit it.”

The meeting was done via zoom, and while speaking was limited, one football player was allowed to speak in support of the sport, senior receiver-corner Steve Petz, and one parent.

Soucy says he knows football has a lot of benefits for the student athletes, especially helping their mental well-being. “We’re eliminating one risk while at the same time, creating another,” he said.

As for scheduling, nothing can be done until all the decisions are made. The first NHIAA approved day to play football is Friday, Sept. 25, with practices for that and all other sports allowed to being next Tuesday, Sept. 8.

Soucy sees Merrimack playing the two Nashuas, BG, and hopefully Alvirne, and add another close-by school depending on the number of regular season games that will be played. The talk is that four or five regular season games will be played and then playoffs taking things up to the finals on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, Nov. 21. Unlike the other sports, it’s not believed there will be any open football tournaments.

But there’s still a lot to consider in each division. For example, Keene, which has been in the same conference with the Nashuas, Merrimack and BG, will play football. But, according to Soucy, the Blackbirds will not play against schools from Rockingham or Hillsborough counties. “So,” Soucy said, “they (the NHIAA) keep going back and forth on how it’s going to look.

“Look, everything with (the pandemic) changes daily.”

And school sports is one of them.

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Another change, according to Soucy, is that golf will now have an open tournament. Originally, a school had to play 10 matches to qualify for the state tournament, but word came down from the NHIAA on Wednesday that that will no longer be the case; the state tournaments will be open.

It likely would have been hard for the northern most schools to play that many matches, some have surmised. The schedules aren’t finalized, but will likely be close to some of the originals since course time was booked. But some will change based on travel. “I’ve already told Spaulding we won’t be going out there on the 10th,” Soucy said. “I’m not sending (his players) that far.”

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Division I athletic directors are slated to meet today, virtually, to take the next step in scheduling. The thought is that at the very least they will come up with their school groupings for schedules.

Word is while teams like soccer, field hockey and volleyball can start to play games on Sept. 18, Division I schools will wait unil Monday, Sept. 21. to play actual games.

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