The 2021 rendition of the "Battle of the Golden Egg" has been canceled.
The football game, which pits the Charleston High School Tigers against the West Tallahatchie High School Choctaws, was scheduled to be played Friday night, Aug. 27, in Charleston. It would have marked the kickoff of the 2021 regular season for both squads.
However, the West Tallahatchie School District announced over the weekend that it is switching to all-virtual classes for two weeks due to COVID-19, and the Mississippi High School Activities Association ruled several weeks ago that schools may not play sports while they are virtual, even if the virtual situation is temporary.
Because WTSD will be virtual through Sept. 6, the Choctaws' Sept. 3 road football game at Greenville O'Bannon also has been canceled.
West Tally first-year head coach Shane Hargett said it is "very disappointing" that his team won't be able to take the field as scheduled, but he noted, "COVID has kind of sucker-punched a lot of folks," adding, "We're just going to do the best we can."
CHS head coach LaDon Taylor said while it is unfortunate that Tallahatchie's cross-county football rivalry game is off for a second straight year — both school systems went all-virtual during 2020-21 — it is simply a sign of the times.
"It's important to both sides, both communities," Taylor said of the egg game. "It's disappointing, but it's the world we're living in right now with COVID."
The East Tallahatchie School District announced Tuesday that although the high school game for this week is off, the scheduled home junior varsity and junior high football game against M.S. Palmer High School of Marks "is still scheduled as normal for Thursday, Aug. 26, at 5 p.m."
