Hurricane Matthew postpones high school football games

For the second time this season, a hurricane has altered the high school football schedule.

While Hurricane Matthew skirted Florida’s east coast, most of the Gulf Coast is under a tropical storm warning and a state of emergency.

Extracurricular activities, including athletic events, were cancelled Thursday and Friday by the Manatee County School District. That means three high school games were postponed and moved to Saturday. Two private schools scheduled to play each other, Out-of-Door Academy and Saint Stephen’s, followed suit.

Manatee High’s district football game at Palm Harbor University in Pinellas County, which had been moved to Thursday night, was moved to Saturday at 11 a.m.

“Not ideal, but it was a decision from our school district based on the safety of our players and coaches in which I support,” Manatee head coach John Booth said in a text message. “We are scheduled to play Saturday, so we need to be ready to play then.”

The Hurricanes are off to a fast start in Class 8A-District 6, blowing out two district opponents by a combined 101-7 total. Manatee’s opponent this week, Palm Harbor University, also has one league loss.

Meanwhile, Southeast’s non-district road game at Cardinal Mooney and Bayshore’s non-district home game against North Port were moved to Saturday at 11 a.m. and noon, respectively.

Having the game moved to Saturday presents logistical issues for the Bruins.

“We have about, I think, four maybe five players on our entire team that drive,” Bayshore head coach John Biezuns said.

To combat that, Biezuns said he was given the school’s seventh period to meet with players and plan Saturday’s schedule. That schedule means calls for players to arrive at the school at 9 a.m.

“We miss a walkthrough (Thursday), which we need,” Biezuns said. “Our kids don’t really respond with two days off. Most athletes don’t, but especially high school athletes.”

In early September, Hurricane Hermine canceled Bayshore’s game against Lakewood Ranch and Southeast’s game against Braden River. Manatee’s game against Palmetto was rescheduled for the following Monday.

With this week serving as homecoming for the Bruins, it was imperative to make every effort to play.

“To lose our homecoming game is pretty disastrous from a school standpoint,” Biezuns said. “So our principal (David Underhill) did a pretty good job of making sure we have a homecoming game.”

The annual Headmaster’s Cup game pitting Saint Stephen’s against Out-of-Door Academy was pushed to Saturday at 1 p.m. at Thunder Stadium.

“It’s definitely a different vibe playing on Saturdays,” said ODA head coach Ken Sommers, whose team played on Saturday earlier this year when rain from Hermine rolled through the area. “So I think we have a pregame routine that we’ve gone through on Saturdays. ... I think what we’ve learned is want to keep guy’s heads in as much as possible and give them a refresher prior to the game, so we’re ready to go once we have kickoff.”

IMG Academy’s homecoming game against Southern Lab (Baton Rouge, La.) was canceled Wednesday night.

“It’s my first year on the west coast of Florida and everyone I talk to says this never happens,” Biezuns said. “So I’m kind of adjusting to that. But we make the joke, it’s every Monday. Eight Mondays in a row it’s rained or it’s lightning, so we have to be inside. And at Bayshore, we don’t have two gyms like some other schools in the county. So as far as meeting in my classroom or going to the weight room and doing walkthroughs in the lunch room and again, for us, it’s kind of a (logistical) nightmare.”

This story was originally published October 6, 2016 at 12:04 PM with the headline "Hurricane Matthew postpones high school football games."