On Friday, October 2, Middletown South will host its first home game of the season, playing against Long Branch at 7 PM at the Swamp.

“This year will be different than anything that we’ve seen before,” said Rich Carroll, Director of Athletics.

South will play a total of six games, three home and three away. As of now, games will run through November 6.

“When the schedules were released, there was so much uncertainty as to what the season would look like and how long it would last,” said Carroll. 

While there will not be a traditional Thanksgiving Day game against North, the teams will still go head to head on October 30.

“Our thought process was it is better to play the game rather than take a chance and wait til Thanksgiving and [face] the possibility of not playing North/South at all,” said Carroll. “We look forward to returning to the Thanksgiving tradition in 2021.”

The stands will look different this year, too, in response to Governor Murphy’s mandate.

“The capacity for an outside crowd is set at 500 this year, so each participant is given a set amount of tickets,” said Assistant Coach Nick Trezza.

All players, cheerleaders, and band members each get two tickets, and the opposing team gets 100. The remaining 100 tickets are being given to students via a lottery. Students can check their Middletown email accounts for information on how to enter the lotteries. And what about Midd South Nation?

“No doubt that South Nation is a major influence on all athletic success here at South. Being limited to 100 total students [in the stands] means that they have to be even louder than usual to make their presence known,” said Trezza.

Despite the many changes to football season this year, the South family has reason to be excited.

“I think the community will embrace whatever we get this football season,” said Carroll. “Enjoy watching the boys play. They have been working so hard since mid July, and I look forward to seeing them run down the hill on opening night.”

Middletown South faces off against Long Branch on Friday, October 2 at 7PM at home.