Top-ranked Gov. Mifflin will be idle this weekend after Reading High cancels league-opener

Gov. Mifflin will have Homecoming festivities without a football game this weekend.

The Mustangs’ scheduled Berks Football League Section 1 opener against Reading High has been canceled, with the Red Knights unable to resume team activities until at least Friday due to a COVID situation within the team.

Gov. Mifflin athletic director Pat Tulley confirmed Tuesday evening that Reading High officially informed his school that it will not play Saturday’s scheduled game.

It will go down as a no-contest.

Mifflin (5-0) sought a replacement game but could not find one; Tulley confirmed Thursday afternoon the Mustangs will be idle.

“We’re knocking on doors,” Mifflin coach Jeff Lang said earlier in the week. “We’ve put it out there to (teams in) District 1, District, but nothing’s panned out so far. I don’t like not having a game.”

Lang is concerned that playing only nine games, instead of 10, could hurt his team’s power rating and possibly cost it a chance at home-field advantage in the district playoffs.

The upside of a Friday night off is that the unbeaten Mustangs, ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 5A, will have a full week of practice to work on some rough spots.

“This is an opportunity to practice hard, but rest up,” Lang said. “We need to get healthy. We’re a little banged up. We’ve had five tough games.”

Reading High announced last week that it had to postpone its Week 5 game against North County (Md.) after the program was suspended due to a brush with COVID.

Red Knights coach Andre Doyle told MikeDragoSports.com that his team will be shut down until Friday, one day before its scheduled game at Mifflin.

PIAA rules dictate that a team which is shut down for 10 days must practice at least three days before a contest.

The Red Knights are 1-3; their next game will be Oct. 8 against Berks Catholic.