High school football games in Montgomery County and Philadelphia called off due to potential threats

Officials said they elected to call off the Plymouth Whitemarsh home game in “an abundance of caution." John Bartram High School also canceled its football game due to an unspecified threat.

File photo of police tape.Read moreDavid Maialetti / Staff Photographer

by Oona Goodin-Smith and Robert Moran

Updated Sep. 30, 2022, 9:10 p.m. ET

Published Sep. 30, 2022, 8:00 p.m. ET

Two separate high school football games in Montgomery County and Southwest Philadelphia were called off Friday night due to potential threats, officials at those schools announced.

The athletic director at John Bartram High School in Southwest Philadelphia announced the cancellation of its varsity game with Imhotep Institute Charter High School on Friday due to an unspecified threat that occurred Thursday.

A Plymouth Whitemarsh High School home game against Cheltenham High School was also postponed Friday “in an abundance of caution” after the Colonial School District received word of “a potential threat of harm,” Superintendent Michael Christian said.

The anonymous tip was received through the Pennsylvania Safe2SaySomething line, which was launched in 2019 as a way to prevent school shootings and violence, and has also fielded bullying, self-harm, and mental health calls.

Christian said the school district immediately contacted the Whitemarsh Township Police Department to investigate, and shut down the campus.

“We apologize for the timing of this announcement, but the safety and wellness of our students and staff are of paramount importance,” Christian wrote.

The potential threat is the second reported at the Plymouth Meeting high school this week.

On Wednesday morning, Plymouth Whitemarsh High School administrators sent an email to parents about a now-deleted anonymous Instagram post “of a concerning nature” referencing a threat to the high school.

The school day, they wrote in the email, would continue “with a heightened sense of vigilance and follow our safety protocols,” and Whitemarsh Township police are investigating the situation.

The details of Wednesday’s threat were not immediately clear, nor was it clear whether it was related to the potential threat at the Friday football game.

In an email, Whitemarsh Police Chief Christopher P. Ward referred questions to the school district, but added that his police department will be working with the district to investigate the incident.

The potential threats at the Plymouth Whitemarsh football game and John Bartram High School came days after a 14-year-old high school football player was killed and four other teens were wounded in a shooting after a scrimmage outside Roxborough High School in Philadelphia.

In a statement posted on social media Friday morning, James Chapman, Bartram’s athletic director, said that “due to a threat on John Bartram Field on 9/29/2022, there will be no football activities until further notice.”

Besides the varsity game cancellation, a junior varsity game scheduled for Monday also was canceled, Chapman said.

“All football activities will be moved indoors until the field is deemed safe,” Chapman said. “This is a very sad day for our students, team, and community.”