Darren Geraghty was in the middle of game planning this morning for his Grant High School varsity football team’s game against Fremont tomorrow when he received a phone call.

All Grant football practices and games are canceled until further notice, he learned. It’s the result of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases among staff and students at Grant Public Schools, superintendent Brett Zuver told MLive.

Grant’s football cancellation left Fremont in a pinch trying to find a replacement game this weekend. Fremont’s search did not last long — the Packers will now be traveling to Ludington Friday for a 7 p.m. game.

Ludington had been scheduled to play Michigan Center in a neutral-site game at Clare Friday night, but Michigan Center pulled out of the game. A staff member at Michigan Center tested positive for COVID-19, so the school is shut down for two weeks.

Are you keeping up? Welcome to 2020 Michigan high school sports amid a global pandemic.

“Every day is a fluid situation,” Walls said.

According to Walls, Ludington reached out to Fremont at the same time he received an indication from elsewhere that the Orioles were seeking a game.

Coincidentally, Fremont was scheduled to open the 2020 football season at Ludington on Aug. 28 before the Michigan High School Athletic Association announced two weeks earlier that it was postponing football to the spring. On Sept. 3, the MHSAA reversed course and reinstated football to the fall.

“It just happened to work out and it’s great we have a relationship with Ludington,” Walls said about Fremont’s former conference opponent.

The mood is different in Grant. Geraghty said he is “devastated.” He is not aware of any Tigers football coaches or players who have tested positive for COVID-19, but that does not change the decision made by the school district to put everything on hold.

“I’m devastated for the football players and my football program that their hard work has been taken away from them on short notice,” Geraghty said.

“I’ll continue to work with the kids when I’m allowed. We’ll focus on remaining mentally tough and prepared to resume when the district allows us.”

Grant assistant principal/athletic director Joe Schuitema told MLive that the school district is hoping to have enough information and guidance by Friday afternoon, so that it may determine whether the school and sports shutdown is going to be more long-term than this weekend. Any events canceled through Saturday will remain canceled regardless of any updates, according to Schuitema.

Football is not the only sport impacted. Grant also fields fall sports teams for volleyball, cross country, boys tennis, boys soccer, girls golf and cheerleading.

Other Michigan high schools have canceled or postponed sports events because of positive COVID-19 results in schools.

Novi has canceled volleyball, soccer and field hockey through Sept. 29, and the school did not play football last week but plans to play Friday. Last week, Utica, Detroit Country Day and Lake Orion did not play football because of COVID-19.

Portage Central is playing football this week, but last week the school had to cancel its game against East Lansing. The Mustangs are planning to play this week, minus 11 players who are being quarantined.

Last week, Muskegon Heights Public School Academy announced it was postponing football and volleyball to the spring because of COVID-19 concerns.

Navigating the pandemic has not been easy for anybody anywhere, and that includes virtually everybody in the high school sports realm, be it student-athletes, coaches, officials, parents and athletic administrators.

“Kids are hanging in the balance, waiting,” Schuitema said. “They’ve done things that they’re supposed to do and coaches are waiting and they’ve done the things that they’re supposed to do, and you’re not sure from day to day or within the day whether you’re going to actually be able to have your practice or game. From my lens, you want to be able to be planning and organizing and leading it, and you feel like you’re just always playing catch-up and reacting to new information.”

Among an AD’s concerns these days, according to Schuitema: Is everybody wearing face coverings? Are they socially distant? Are people outside the fence of the school property socially distant and acting appropriately?

These are uncharted waters and they’ve been pretty rocky for some.

“The thing that really stands out to me, I’ve been to a lot of our practices, many of them, and it’s just been like the best part of the day,” Schuitema said. “You see the kids working, you see the coaches coaching and it’s very, very refreshing and encouraging, so when you have to say, ‘Hey, you don’t get to now,’ it’s really, really challenging. It’s a gut-wrencher for everyone involved from different lenses.”