Rome High School’s football team will not be able to play in the Corky Kell Dave Hunter Classic game scheduled to be played on Friday, Aug. 16. The school is taking this precautionary measure to ensure the safety of the football players who were involved in the bus crash on Thursday evening.

“We obviously want to play the game if possible, but after the players were evaluated by physicians we realized that it was not in their best interest to suit up and play on Friday. We hope everyone understands this measure, but the safety of our student-athletes comes first,” Rome High Football Coach John Reid said. “We want to thank the organizers of the Corky Kell Dave Hunter Classic for understanding, and we want to thank the community for all the prayers and support you have offered us after the incident on Thursday.”

One of the buses carrying Rome High players and coaches was involved in an accident returning to Rome after Thursday’s scrimmage against Rockmart.

Rome’s next scheduled football game is an away game at Carrollton on Friday, Aug. 30.