Weather puts damper on regular-season openers

There was only one winner in Manatee County on the first Friday night of high school football’s regular season — the weather.

Thunderstorms moved into the area shortly before kickoffs Friday evening, postponing or canceling most of the night’s scheduled games involving Manatee County teams.

Palmetto and Southeast got on the field for warmups for their 7:30 p.m. game but never kicked off before lightning caused a delay. The game was postponed shortly after 8:15 p.m., and the teams will try again at 1 p.m. Saturday at Southeast’s John Kiker Memorial Stadium.

Bayshore High’s game was suspended with the Bruins leading 6-0. Miguel Rodriguez scored the game’s only touchdown on an 85-yard run, perhaps a good omen for Bayshore’s season despite the bad weather.

The teams decided to suspend the game at 9 p.m. Although it has not officially been canceled, there are no plans to reschedule the game at this time, Bayshore athletic director Chris Brady told the Herald on Friday night.

Yusuf Shakir’s regular-season debut as head coach of Manatee High was pushed back a week after their highly anticipated game against perennial state power Lakeland was canceled. The game was delayed shortly after kickoff, and the teams held out until almost 9:30 p.m. hoping for the storms to subside, but to no avail.

The game will not be rescheduled.

Earlier Friday, games involving Lakewood Ranch and Out-of-Door Academy in Lee County were postponed because of unplayable field conditions.

Both games — the Mustangs will take on Cape Coral Ida Baker, and the Thunder will face Fort Myers Canterbury — are now scheduled for 5 p.m. Monday.

The only team from Manatee County that completed its game, Bradenton Christian, lost 24-0 to Jordan Christian Prep in Auburndale.

This story was originally published August 25, 2017 at 9:52 PM with the headline "Weather puts damper on regular-season openers."