Newburyport football cancels remainder of season due to COVID outbreak
Apr. 17—The Newburyport football team's season is over due to the program's ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, Newburyport High athletic director Kyle Hodsdon confirmed on Saturday.
Newburyport football entered its pause on Tuesday and subsequent testing confirmed an outbreak within the football and girls volleyball programs and within the student body at large. Newburyport High went full remote learning on Thursday and Friday, and this week's girls volleyball Cape Ann League Tournament semifinal and football game against North Reading were canceled.
With one week remaining in the Fall 2 season, Newburyport football won't be able to return to action in time to play Amesbury in its April 23 season finale. This will be the first time since 1930 that Newburyport and Amesbury's annual rivalry game won't take place.
Newburyport's outbreak came days after the team picked up a 35-6 win over Pentucket on Senior Night in what turned out to be the team's season finale. The Clippers finish the Fall 2 season 3-2.
Amesbury, meanwhile, improved to 4-1 with its 22-0 win over Pentucket on Saturday, and Amesbury High athletic director Glen Gearin said afterwards that he hopes to find another opponent for next weekend. His hope is that they can find someone to play within the next couple of days.
