Persistent lightning nixes Cass, Southeast opener

Published 12:56 am Saturday, September 1, 2007

As it stands, the Southeast Raiders have been rescued by lightning.

In a one-sided game interrupted twice by mandatory 30-minute lightning delays at Southeast, officials decided enough was enough around 9:45 p.m. Friday night and cancelled the contest.

Cass was ahead 21-0 at the start of the second quarter when it was called.

The non-region game will not be made up, Cass coach Rick Casko said late Friday night. It will go down as a “no-contest” in the won-lost column for both teams.

“I wish we could play,” he said. “The state said we could. But (Southeast head coach Jon Lovingood) said it would be tough to get officials back for the game.

“It’s just one of those things.”

By-law 2.93 of the Georgia High School Association handbook stipulates that a game shall be terminated after a one-hour cumulative delay. If the game isn’t complete, “administrators of the schools involved (or their designees) should decide about replaying the game,” the rule states.

Casko and Lovingood both expressed frustration that their teams have been at the whim of the elements to such an extent for the last month.

“It’s been tough,” Lovingood said. “We wait and wait for (the heat index to be playable by the Whitfield County School Board’s standards.) Now we have the lightning.”

Casko said his offensive unit has taken only 11 snaps since their spring game. The Colonels’ preseason scrimmage was wiped out by lightning last week at Bartow County.

“I would have pleaded if I could,” he said. “We just want to play football. We haven’t been able to play any.”

There was not only concern for the players, but for a spirited season-opening crowd — seated in metal bleachers as lightning started to illuminate the skies just east of Raider Stadium.

Shortly after 9 p.m., Southeast athletic director Scott Ramsey signaled for spectators on both sides to leave the bleachers and seek shelter as the lightning drew closer.

“We’ve had two home games this year in softball and football,” Ramsey said. “Both times we’ve had lightning.”

Cass made the most of its 11 offensive snaps, scoring three first-quarter touchdowns. Quarterback Blake Sims connected with D.J. Hines on a 67-yard scoring pass on their first play from scrimmage.

Georgia-bound Richard Samuel sprinted 50 yards for a touchdown on the Colonels’ fourth play and Sims hit Hines on a 4-yard touchdown pass on their sixth.

Southeast had 48 yards of offense in the one quarter of work, led by Trea Williams’ nine carries for 43 yards.