HARDIN – The Aggies will not face a Blake Buchanan-style quarterback this week after all.

Norborne Hardin-Central was slated to travel Friday to Hughesville to face the Northwest of Hughesville/Sacred Heart co-op in varsity 8-man football action. Speaking Monday during practice at Hardin-Central about the Central Rivers Conference Carroll-Livingston Activities Association Division meeting, Aggies coach and Richmond High School graduate Kirk Thacker compared Mustangs sophomore signal-caller Tanner Damlo to Buchanan, Orrick’s starting quarterback, saying Damlo is elusive like Buchanan.

At 10:01 a.m. Thursday, however, Thacker stated via text message that the ballgame had been called because the coronavirus had been detected at Northwest of Hughesville. It was “too late” for the Aggies to schedule another opponent, he stated later.

“We are going to hold a split team scrimmage instead on Friday night,” Thacker stated.

Had the meeting taken place, the Aggies would have faced a program on a four-game winning streak, including a 50-0 Oct. 9 thumping of visiting Keytesville/Northwestern of Mendon. The Mustangs are 5-1 overall.

This marks the third time this season Northwest of Hughesville/Sacred Heart has had a ballgame cancelled; however, the Mustangs found replacements for both cancellations, Missouri State High School Activities Association records state. In place of a Sept. 11 road meeting with St. Paul Lutheran of Concordia, the Mustangs played that night on the road against Keytesville/Northwestern of Mendon. The Mustangs then filled in a cancelled Oct. 2 meeting with Concordia by playing Pleasant Hope, a Class 1, 11-man program.

And this is not the first time NHC, 4-3, has had to reschedule because of COVID-19. For example, the Aggies were scheduled to be idle Oct. 9, but they became an 11th-hour replacement homecoming opponent for Braymer/Breckenridge at Braymer after Concordia had to cancel. NHC won 50-24.