BROOKVILLE, Pa. – As of 5:50 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16, District 9 still wasn’t sure where or when the District 9 Class 1A and Class 2A football title games were going to be played.
(Photo: Clarion University’s Memorial Field was declared unplayable by the university as were numerous other turf fields and some grass fields across District 9)
Both games were originally scheduled for Friday night with the Class 1A game between Coudersport and Smethport slated for Bradford’s Parkway Field and the Class 2A game between Ridgway and Brockway set for DuBois’ Mansell Stadium.
The Class 1A game was then moved to Saturday, Nov. 17, on Thursday, Nov. 15, because Bradford believed it couldn’t safely clear its turf field without ruining the new turf.
Then, on Friday, DuBois informed District 9 of the same issue because of the ice below the snow.
In addition, Clarion University told the District it couldn’t make Memorial Stadium playable because of the same issue. That caused Friday’s PIAA Class 4A first-round game between Clearfield and Erie Cathedral Prep to be moved to 7 p.m. Saturday at Slippery Rock University.
District 9 football chairman Bob Tonkin has spent the better part of Friday trying to find a location and a time to play the two District 9 title games.
He has been informed that Brockway’s Varischetti Field is unplayable and that Clearfield doesn’t have the ability to clear the snow and ice from its field.
Karns City was unavailable to host games Friday or Saturday.
Tonkin also contacted locations with turf fields outside of District 9, including Warren, but was informed those facilities also were not available.
According to Tonkin, he also contacted a couple of schools with grass fields but was told those fields weren’t playable as well.
At this point, Tonkin is still trying to work on finding a location for the games and believes if he can, the games will most likely have to be played Monday. Altoona’s Mansion Park has been mentioned as a possibility as has Karns City, but nothing has been made official.
