Manatee High reschedules game ahead of Hurricane Matthew

Manatee’s Class 8A-District 6 game against Palm Harbor University originally scheduled for Friday in Palm Harbor will now be played Thursday in an effort to avoid Hurricane Matthew,. The Canes will kick off against Palm Harbor University at 7:30 p.m. at Palm Harbor University High School, Manatee athletic director Danielle LaPoint said Wednesday.

The Canes’ trip to Palm Harbor includes a drive across the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which was closed for about 24 hours during Hurricane Hermine. As projections for Matthew shift further and further west toward the Gulf coast, the Tampa Bay area is expected to be hit the worst Friday evening.

This is the second game Manatee has had to reschedule this season due to a hurricane. The Canes’ Week 2 game against Palmetto was pushed back three days due to Hurricane Hermine last month. With no bye weeks remaining for Manatee, playing this district game against Palm Harbor before the end of the week is crucial.

Florida High School Athletic Association rules require teams to play all district games by Oct. 24. The final date for district play is Oct. 28 and Oct. 31 is reserved for tiebreakers. Nov. 4 is the final Friday of the regular season and is a non-district date.

Manatee is off to a perfect 2-0 start to Class 8A-6 play, while Palm Harbor University sits at 2-1. No other games including Manatee County teams have been rescheduled, although four of the county’s eight teams have previously scheduled bye weeks. Southeast is scheduled to travel to Sarasota to face Cardinal Mooney, Bayshore is slated to host North Port and Saint Stephen’s will play host to rival Out-of-Door Academy in a Sunshine State Athletic Conference Coral Bay division game.

This story was originally published October 5, 2016 at 1:44 PM with the headline "Manatee High reschedules game ahead of Hurricane Matthew."