ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — West Orange High School football parents say their kids should be able to play despite their high school being shut down for the next two weeks due to positive COVID-19 cases.

Ten students tested positive there last week, prompting the shut down.

But the football players all tested negative last week as well, and they've been separated from the rest of the school. 

One player's parent, Eric Schwalbach, says his son Tyson needs to play as much as possible during his senior year, especially after the first game of West Orange's season was cancelled when their opponent, Evans High School, was quarantined.

“I got coaches calling and saying 'hey, have a good game,' and you know I have to tell him 'oh, it was canceled because of COVID,” Schwalbach said. 

He said they’re counting on his son getting a football scholarship to pay for college.

But, with the school closed for the next two weeks, the team can’t practice or play, meaning fewer games for his son and others to impress colleges with.

“A lot of these colleges are just waiting on this year’s tape,” Schwalbach said. 

UCF director of player personnel Brandon Lawson confirms that having footage of a player’s senior year is vital to scholarship chances.

“It’s extremely important every single year … we watch guys constantly and consistently throughout the season,” he said. 

Lawson said UCF has already seen a lag in getting footage this year from prospects because of the late start to the season.

Schwalbach says he doesn’t understand why West Orange can’t play, even after the team tested negative for the virus and has been in their own cohort. 

“They know they’re negative, so once they’re negative, let them go play,” Schwalbach said. 

We asked OCPS about whether the team might still be able to play these next two weeks. The district said it would get back to us.

Schwalbach says he knows personally how important a football scholarship is to these kids, especially to ones from low-income families.

“I lived in a one bedroom apartment, my mom, my dad was an alcoholic, left, and she was always working two or three jobs," Schwalbach said. "I was the first person in my family to get a college degree."

So, he says he just doesn't want other kids' chances to be hurt because others in the school tested positive. 

Lawson did tell us, however, he’s confident that, even with the late start, there are still enough games left in the season for players to have enough tape.

But Schwalbach wants the district to come up with a better policy so students can play if they test negative, even when their school has to be shut down.