So just how different was the first football game for most of us in the coronavirus era? Try sorta, kinda different. It’s the same game — you still have to block and tackle, yes — but it comes with twists.

For one thing, gone are the days where waterboys/girls run on the field during timeouts with six-packs of water bottles for players. Every player had their own water jug, and there was no sharing.

For another, there obviously weren’t as many people in the stands. The school is limiting attendance at Tiger Stadium, a modern facility with room for 5,000 spectators, to 1,600. It was about a third of that 1,600 on this wonderful night because perhaps 50 St. Charles fans made the long ride down I-55.

And those who were in the stands didn’t make a whole lot of noise. Maybe it was because of the weird circumstances, or that the game was a blowout from about the middle of the third quarter on, but a good chunk of the game was played in library silence.

How quiet was it? After multiple plays, you could hear Cape Central coaches yelling at players while sitting in the press box, which is positioned quite a ways from the field. I hope that if they get to play football this spring in Southern Illinois that the stadiums here aren’t as quiet as that.

For the most part, fans were good about wearing their masks in the seats, although there were a few who thought the rules didn’t apply to them. I thought Cape Central officials could have emphasized keeping masks on more often during the game, but overall, I believe they did a good enough job attempting to keep all of us safe.