Iowa's spring sports seasons were cancelled and baseball and softball schedules were abbreviated due to COVID-19. Now high school football teams will have their regular seasons shortened as a consequence of the continuing pandemic threat.

The Iowa High School Athletic Association announced on July 24 that varsity schedules will be reduced from the traditional nine games to a maximum of seven. According to the IHSAA, the revised plan for the 2020 season "considers flexibility for school return concerns, geography, postseason qualifying, transportation and possible COVID-19 cases as rationale for changing previously announced varsity football schedules."

Dates for first practices (Aug. 10) and first competition (Aug. 27) remain unchanged. The IHSAA plan calls for a 7-week regular season with teams having the option of scheduling five, six or seven games within that timeframe.

Weeks 1 and 2 are optional game dates. District games in Classes A-3A will be played in the previously established order during weeks 3-7. With district competition starting two weeks earlier, the maximum number of non-district games is reduced from four to two.

To address the potential of positive COVID-19 cases forcing players and teams to miss games, the IHSAA announced that no team will be penalized with a loss or forfeit due to state, county or local health department determinations. A missed game due to COVID-19 will be considered a "no contest" and will not be made up.

Another significant change is that all teams in all classes will qualify for postseason play. According to the IHSAA, brackets consisting of six rounds for each classification will be determined with "geography, quality and team availability as primary considerations. This is intended to be a one-time measure for postseason formatting."

First-round playoff games (round of 64) in all classes are currently scheduled for Oct. 16, with the next two rounds (32, 16) to be played on successive Fridays. Quarterfinals (round of 8) are scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 7. Semifinal games will be played as originally scheduled (Nov. 13-15) as will the finals (Nov. 20-21).

• H-M-S schedule changes

Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn's revised 2020 varsity schedule calls for seven games to be played on Fridays. The first game is set for Aug. 28 against Okoboji at Peterson Field, which was the scheduled opener for the Hawks' original slate of games.

H-M-S will also play a non-district contest at Sibley-Ocheyedan on Sept. 4. Previously scheduled non-district games against Cherokee and Sioux Central have been dropped.

Class A District 1 competition begins at home on Sept. 11 against South O'Brien. The schedule of district games is the same as the one previously announced. The 2020 Homecoming game is scheduled for Oct. 2 against Akron-Westfield while the final regular season game against Lawton-Bronson on Oct. 9 is designated as senior night.

SENTINEL-NEWS FILE PHOTO

H-M-S's revised scheduled dropped Cherokee and Sioux Central.

The IHSAA's revised plan does not apply to junior varsity or freshman games. H-M-S is currently scheduled to play a seven-game JV schedule that starts on Aug. 31.

No announcements have been made regarding any changes to other fall sports. H-M-S's cross country and volleyball teams currently have regular schedules planned for their 2020 seasons.