Staff Photo by Robin Rudd /
Howard coaches wait under Red Gaston Stadium for the rain to slacken.The stands were filled and there was excitement throughout the Chattanooga area for the first Friday night of the high school football season, but the weather refused to cooperate. A line of thunderstorms moved through the area at or near time for kickoff, making a mess of things and causing several games to be played much later than scheduled or postponed.
The Grace Academy versus Lookout Valley game was tied at 21 when the inclement weather moved in and never resumed. Yellow Jackets coach David Dinger said both staffs agreed not to play the rest of the game, so it will end as a no-contest.
The strangeness carried over to Chattanooga Christain, where visiting McCallie jumped out to a 21-0 lead by halftime before the storms knocked out power for more than 20 minutes. Once it became obvious that the weather would cause a long delay, both teams agreed to call off the second half, giving the Blue Tornado a shortened win.
Brainerd and Howard made it as far as the start of the second quarter before being postponed. Those two rivals will resume the game today at 1 p.m., with Howard leading 6-0 after a 70-yard touchdown run by junior Javian Robinson.
At Red Bank, where Chris Brown was set to make his head coaching debut against rival Soddy-Daisy, players from both teams had warmed up and were making their way onto the field when lightning caused a delay that eventually became a postponement once the torrential rain fell.