High school football: Springfield cancels against Cloverleaf; Colts to play Norton

A COVID-19 quarantine has affected the Cloverleaf football team's schedule for the second time this season. Luckily for the Colts, this time they won't be forced to take a bye week. A large quarantine at Springfield (1-4, 0-2) caused the Spartans to pull out of their Metro Athletic Conference game against the Colts (2-3, 1-2) that originally was scheduled for Friday. Norton (6-0, 3-0) already had switched around its schedule on Sept. 10, had an opening and quickly agreed to fill in. Quarantines at Cloverleaf canceled the Week 2 game at Keystone. "While we are disappointed in not playing Springfield this week, we are excited to have a big game with playoff and conference implications for our homecoming game," Colts coach Justin Vorhies said. "Both teams are coming off games that will make this week interesting." A year after finishing 3-6 and placing seventh in the eight-team MAC, the Panthers have been one of Northeast Ohio's biggest surprises and are coming off a stunning 28-6 victory over defending MAC champion Streetsboro. Norton is allowing 9.0 points per game and uses a three-back offense straight out of the 1960s and '70s. Springfield has left the door open to playing Cloverleaf in Week 11 if neither team makes the playoffs, which appears unlikely in the first season of 16 teams per region qualifying. Cloverleaf is 12th in Division III, Region 10, while the Spartans are 26th in D-III, Region 9.