MOULTRIE, Ga. – By a unanimous 12-0 vote, the Georgia High School Association’s Board of Trustees voted on Monday to delay the start of football season by two weeks.

The start of football now will come on the weekend of Sept. 4-5 and teams will play a 10-game schedule with five rounds of playoffs.

The regular season will run 12 weeks, pushing the state championship games to Dec. 24-26.

The start of football practices will remain unchanged, with acclimation beginning Monday, July 27. Full practices will begin Aug. 1.

The other GHSA fall sports – cheerleading, cross country, fast-pitch softball and volleyball – will start practices on Aug. 1, as was previously scheduled.

According to the minutes posted on the GHSA website, Board of Trustee member Steven Craft said “most everybody” wanted to play the fall schedule, but mentioned that pushing back the start of the season by two weeks “might be best for several school systems.”

Jasper Jewell, a board member and the athletic director of the Atlanta Public Schools, said his district might cancel falls sports completely if football was not pushed back.

A motion to remain with the current football calendar with games starting Aug. 21-22 was voted down, 8-4 before the vote to push back the start by two weeks was approved.

It still is unclear how schools will handle attendance at the games.

State high school teams have been working this summer under the GHSA’s Coronavirus Guidance Plan, which has restricted activities to help deal with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Teams were first able to incorporate helmets in their workouts on Monday.

The GHSA and the Sports Medicine Advisory Council is expected to meet again Wednesday to update the implementation of the plan.

Colquitt County is scheduled to play a scrimmage game against Lee County on Friday, Aug. 7, but it is unclear if that game will be played.

The Packers season-opener, originally scheduled for Friday, Aug. 21, now apparently will be held on Sept. 4, at Marietta.