Palmetto takes 21-0 lead on Manatee before game suspended; rivalry game slated to resume Saturday

Palmetto High’s bid to become the first Manatee County football program to defeat Manatee High since 2006 will have to wait one more day.

Friday night’s game was suspended after severe thunderstorms rolled through the area. At the time, the Tigers led the Hurricanes 21-0 with 3:56 remaining in the second quarter.

Players, staff and fans then evacuated Harllee Stadium after lightning struck nearby.

The teams are slated to return to Palmetto High at 10 a.m. on Saturday to resume the non-district matchup.

Elijah Davis armed Palmetto with a 7-0 lead following a 5-yard touchdown run to cap the game’s opening drive.

The Tigers cashed in on two short fields to bolster that lead prior to the game being suspended.

Palmetto took over at Manatee’s 31- and 30-yard line, respectively, after a pair of short punts.

Both yielded touchdowns with junior quarterback Anthony Marino scoring on a 1-yard run and junior running back Johnny Jones reaching the end zone on a 30-yard run.

Manatee’s young offensive line struggled to maintain leverage against Palmetto’s defensive front.

Canes quarterback Ryan O’Neill was sacked three times, while only sustaining one drive longer than five plays among their five possessions.

It’s the second time in as many weeks that Friday’s games were either postponed or canceled. Palmetto and Southeast’s game from last week was postponed to an unknown future date, while the remaining Friday schedule was canceled involving Manatee County programs.

That included Manatee, which played a scoreless half-quarter against Lakeland before thunderstorms forced a cancellation.

This story was originally published September 1, 2017 at 11:02 PM with the headline "Palmetto takes 21-0 lead on Manatee before game suspended; rivalry game slated to resume Saturday."