Are you ready for some … lightning?
Wait a minute, that’s not how the phrase goes, though you wouldn’t know any better after the opening weekend of the high school football season.
“Stop me if you’ve heard me say this before…lightning delay here from Municipal Stadium as WCA leads Kennedy 22-0 with 1:13 left in 2nd QT,” Chris Saunders wrote on X.
Saunders, who was recently named director of sports programming for 1320 AM WATR out of Waterbury, was doing his second game at Municipal in as many nights. Thursday night’s season-opening showdown between Holy Cross and Woodland also had a lightning delay. That wound up being a 20-14 overtime thriller won by the Crusaders.
So, again, are you ready for some lightning?
Games were played this weekend, but many were not on their originally scheduled dates, or at the originally scheduled times. Thursday games were moved due to concerns over heat, which were warranted given how nasty it was during the week. Friday games were moved due to thunderstorm activity. Saturday games weren’t safe from the thunderstorms, either.
Mark Jaffee of the Republican-American reported on X on Sunday morning that St. Paul and Derby waited three hours after the start of the Saturday’s rescheduled contest before calling it off at 8 p.m.
Rain has been somewhat canceled out with the proliferation of synthetic turf fields. Lightning is not something that can be turfed over. After the original lightning is seen, another flash means another reset of the 30-minute waiting period. There is nothing a sports writer dreads more on a nighttime deadline than another bolt of lightning across the sky. It’s hurry up and wait, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Anyway, here are the results from Week 1:
THURSDAY
Holy Cross 20, Woodland 14 (OT)
Oxford 34, Wilby 0
Naugatuck at Wolcott, ppd. to Saturday (heat)
Derby at St. Paul, ppd. to Saturday (heat)
FRIDAY
WCA-Kennedy, suspended in 2Q (22-0, WCA leading)
Crosby at Torrington, ppd. to Saturday
Bristol Central at Windsor, ppd. to Saturday
Farmington at Bristol Eastern, ppd. to Saturday
SATURDAY
Bristol Eastern 35, Farmington 14
WCA 36, Kennedy 0
Torrington 20, Crosby 8
Naugatuck 49, Wolcott 0
Wilcox/Kaynor 7, O’Brien Tech 6
Bristol Central at Windsor, ppd. to Sunday
Derby at St. Paul, ppd. TBA
SUNDAY
Windsor 43, Bristol Central 0
