Northampton head football coach Kyle Haas knows every game is important. This season, his feelings will be intensified.

Recently, the East Penn Conference principals voted unanimously (18-0) to delay the start of fall sports, notably football beginning Oct. 2 with the current proposed schedule of five games.

“Every game will be more important than ever,” said Haas. “I thought we would play around seven games this season. We’ll see a lot of kids play even harder with a shorter season.”

Northampton athletic director Shaun Murray stated other contact sports such as field hockey, soccer, and volleyball would begin approximately Sept. 25. Golf and tennis is already under way and cross country started this week.

It was also decided the Kids would play opponents in Northampton County, providing them with a schedule of Becahi, Easton, Freedom, Liberty and Nazareth, ironically all former EPC South opponents they faced before their shift to the EPC North.

Football would end its season at the end of October and district playoffs would begin in November. It will be another interesting scenario how district seeds will be determined, especially if the Colonial/Schuylkill League follows a different format.

Whitehall almost found itself in an interesting situation in the Lehigh County version, as both Allen and Dieruff will have virtual learning and rumors indicated they are unlikely to participate in fall sports, but it turns out both teams will. Whitehall’s football season starts this weekend with a home game against Central, followed by another home game Sept. 25 against Bechai.

“We [were] looking to move to county model,” said Murray before official decisions were made. “It won’t be perfect across the board. We wanted to coordinate as much as we could to the reopening of schools. There likely will be adjustments along the way.”

Haas has welcomed the extra practice time before their newly-scheduled opener as an opportunity for his team to grow. Despite the lack of two scrimmages, Haas is optimistic he can pencil in the Kids’ starting lineup through the use of practices. The Kids had a number of blowout games on their march toward the EPC North title last season that allowed them to use of number of players.

Football recently began Phase Four of their workout program that will allow players to wear pads and helmets.

“I don’t see our kids getting bored with the extra time,” he said. “We didn’t have any time in the spring this year, so this we give us time to work on some more things. We also have been able to teach a lot more fundamentals.

“We have few kids who didn’t play last year, and many of them will have the opportunity to play this year. We’ll have some young guys who will step up.”

Haas welcomes the chance to play Whitehall, which has become a heightened game, and he is uncertain about the state of their annual Thanksgiving Day game against Catasauqua. Kids will visit Whitehall on Oct. 30, according to the EPC schedule.

“We have had some good games with Whitehall lately and it is turning into a good rivalry with them being as close as they are,” he said. “We just have to be optimistic and continue to prepare

“We’ll stay positive and we’ll be ready.”