The threat of a wet weekend for the Chattanooga area has led to a good portion of local high school football games being moved up a day.
Nine games have been rescheduled from Friday and will be played Thursday instead as teams look to take advantage of what appears to be the last day without rain before the weekend.
"By moving some of the games to Thursday, they can't go wrong, because there's going to be absolutely no problem then," said Paul Barys, chief meteorologist for WRCB-TV Channel 3.
"Coming up on Friday the showers will probably move in late afternoon, so if they play the games on Friday they're going to get wet but I don't think there will be any storms with the showers. The heavier stuff is going to be later Friday night and into Saturday. We could get numerous inches."
While rain may not necessarily interrupt a football game, nearby lightning would. Each detected strike results in a mandatory 30-minute delay for both GHSA and TSSAA outdoor sporting events.
The rescheduled game with the most playoff implications is Anderson County at East Hamilton, which will likely determine the Region 2-4A championship. The visiting Mavericks (7-1, 4-0) have won 16 consecutive region games and are looking to earn their third straight region title. East Hamilton (6-2, 4-0) has averaged 53 points per game against region foes this season, Grant Reynolds' first as the Hurricanes' head coach.
The only other Tennessee region game involving local teams that has been moved up is Sequatchie County at Grundy County in 4-3A. Nonregion games that will be played Thursday are Bradley Central at Soddy-Daisy, Loudon at Walker Valley, Silverdale Baptist Academy at Marion County, Tyner at Brainerd and Whitwell at Fayetteville.
Pepperell at Dade County is the only game involving a local Georgia team that was moved, while in Alabama, Randolph at North Jackson was also moved to Thursday.
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.