Plano-Sandwich ‘War on 34′ game for Friday canceled after Reapers go in COVID-19 quarantine

One of the state’s oldest rivalries appears that it will be the latest athletic casualty of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 111th edition of the “War on Rt. 34″ between Plano and Sandwich has been canceled, Sandwich athletic director Tim Gipe announced in a tweet on Tuesday.

The cancellation comes after a positive COVID-19 case was found within the Plano football program, resulting in a 10-day quarantine. The player was tested on Monday and the test result came back on Tuesday.

“It’s sad for our kids; they’ve played so well the last few weeks,” Plano AD Jim Schmidt said on Tuesday afternoon after the announcement of the cancellation. “You want to be rewarded with a game that they had a shot at, and a rivalry game like that. To have it stripped, it’s too bad.”

It will be the first season that Plano and Sandwich will not meet on the football field since the 1976 and 1977 seasons, when football was dropped at Sandwich due to several failed referendums. Sandwich currently leads the rivalry that dates back to 1897 55-51-4, and won the last meeting in 2019. The two schools also did not meet from 1936-1939 when Plano had to drop football due to low numbers or numerous injuries, according to the website reapernation.com.

Schmidt said that Plano should be able to get back from quarantine by next Tuesday. As a matter of fact, he approached Sandwich about playing next Tuesday, but the overture was declined.

Plano is scheduled to host Sycamore on April 23, the season finale, while Sandwich is slated to host Morris in its final game April 23. However Schmidt said that he will pose to the other schools the possibility of Sycamore playing Morris instead so Plano and Sandwich can meet Week 6 to wrap up the season.

Sycamore and Morris have already played, last weekend in fact, Sycamore beating Morris in the last minute 21-14.

“I’m willing to give up our home game for the last game if Sycamore will play Morris again; I’ve talked to them about it and will pursue it a little bit more [Wednesday],” Schmidt said. “What a way it would be to end the year that way. It seems like the natural thing to play your rivalry game.”

Sycamore AD Chauncey Carrick said both he and Morris AD Jeff Johnson have turned down the proposal to switch Week 6 games.