Lightning and rain postpone Friday night football
The field was completely empty, with even die-hard fans finding cover during the worst of the storm. After an almost-continuous lightning delay for an hour and a half, the game was moved to the next day.
The dark clouds gathering for several hours before last Friday night’s scheduled football game were not surprise – rain had been in the forecast for more than a week – but no one really expected to have the game clock stopped before it ever got started. That’s exactly what happened, though, as lightning strike after lightning strike were detected, followed by a downpour at the stadium.
Football players were hustled to the field house when the first lightning strike was detected during warm-up, a little less than an hour before the game was scheduled to start; the band and Belles were still gathering and practicing before heading to the stadium when they received word to stay put. They ended up being stuck there for the duration of their evening.
“It didn’t really bother me, because I really didn’t have anything else to do,“ senior Randy Salazar said. “I was just really bored.”
Both the band and Belles used some of their extra time to practice, plus they and the cheerleaders spent some time socializing with the groups from Westwood, who also sheltered in the cafeteria. Shortly before 8:00, the football players headed out onto the field to warm up and the cheerleaders and halftime groups from both teams started getting ready to head to the field – until another round of lightning hit. After a discussion between coaches, administration and officials, the game was postponed to the next day at 11:00, with the bands and drill teams deciding to sit the week out since so many members had Saturday conflicts.
The football boys didn’t lose their chance to play, although they were frustrated by all of the delays.
“We were all really frustrated, because we were all ready to go play,” junior Clint Guyton said. “It kind of threw us off, because we were all pumped up and ready to play, and then it got delayed.”
The weather was better for Saturday’s match, although it was still overcast and windy. The Bison were unable to pull out a victory, losing to the Westwood Panthers 14-42. They travel to Alto this week to take on the Yellowjackets.
