Colton, CA—Friday night’s non-league game between the Colton Yellowjackets and the Jurupa Hills Spartans was canceled yesterday due to concerns related to the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

An unidentified member of the Yellowjackets team tested positive for COVID-19, setting into motion district contact tracing protocols. Only those individuals* who met the criteria for immediate testing have been quarantined until testing information becomes available.

Contact tracing by the district has made it possible for practice to resume as early as today.

For Jurupa Hills, this presented a true predicament since Friday night’s game is part of their annual Homecoming ceremonies. According to sources associated with Colton, Jurupa Hills scheduled a replacement team to ensure they could celebrate their Homecoming.

As for the Yellowjackets, this marks the second time during the 2021-22 season they have been caught in COVID protocols. The first happened right before their second week match against the Bloomington Bruins.

While the positive test was not the result of the ineffectiveness of the team or school district’s COVID protocols, Coach Rodriguez shared, “We will definitely reassess our COVID protocols after this situation, and with flu season upon us, we can’t afford to have another missed game this season with league play looming.”

The Yellowjackets will remain at 4-1 as they enter league play. “We will move forward with this as a lost week for us,” Athletic Director Jacob Van Hofwegen said. “It won’t affect our standings or rankings at all.”

Next week the Yellowjackets will return to Memorial Stadium to take on the 1-3 Kaiser Cats.

*Correction: Previous reporting indicated all student-athletes were required to obtain COVID-19 testing. This, however, was inaccurate. The article has been updated and is accurate.