NORMAN — Norman High and Norman North will have to wait one more day for their Crosstown Clash.
The Tigers and Timberwolves warmed up at Owen Field Thursday night, but a half hour before game time, the fans and players were ordered to leave the stadium due to thunderstorms moving into the area.
They never made it back out.
The game was postponed at 9:20 p.m. and will take place today at 7 p.m. at Harve Collins Field. It will be the first time NHS and North have met outside of Owen Field since the 2006 playoffs, when the T-Wolves started their current streak of four straight wins over the Tigers.
Just before 9 p.m., it looked like the teams might get back on the field for a late kickoff.
North principal Brian Young said the storms looked to be on their way out, and hopefully the game would still get under way before 10 p.m.
“Everybody knew there was going to be bad weather,” Young said. “OU’s been great. The field is in great shape. They’re going to let us play and they’re monitoring the lightning strikes for us.”
Owen Field held up remarkably well through the heavy rains. And NHS trainer Russ Schuchman said the main worry, if the players had been able to get back out there, would be ankle strains or sprains due to slipping.
“You have to worry about how good the cleats are going to hold when the top layer gets saturated and wet,” Schuchman said. “The field’s great on the surface, it’s just a matter of the cleats grabbing onto it. High schools, we don’t have the luxury of different cleat lengths.”
The rule for officials is that a game halted for lightning can’t be resumed until 30 minutes after the latest strike in the area.
At 8:55, officials gave word that a new, 10-minute warm-up period would be started by 9 p.m. and a 14-minute halftime would take place without the schools’ bands taking the field.
But a few minutes later, more lightning struck overhead and the game was pushed back another 30 minutes.
Lightning stayed in the area, and when it looked like the game wouldn’t start until well after 10 p.m., the game was called.
“We were out there,” NHS lineman Zach Johnson said. “We were hyped up and everything. It’s disappointing, but we’re coming for ‘em tomorrow. We’re going to be ready for it.”
The hardest part for the players and coaches was trying to stay fired up every time they thought they were getting back on the field.
“Our guys were ready to go,” North coach Lance Manning said. “We told them, ‘We’re going to be out there in three minutes.’ Then, no, lightning struck again.”
The teams would have liked to play at any time of night. But lightning stayed in the area until close to 10 p.m., and even a late-night start time after 11 p.m. would not have been assured.
“We would play. We’d be happy to go,” Manning said. “But they weren’t even sure we’d be able to do that.”
It was a disappointing night for everyone involved, from fans, to players, to parents, to coaches and staff.
But the rivalry will kick off tonight at Harve Collins Field, and at the very least the two rivals will still get to play.
“It’s disappointing for everybody,” Manning said. “But everyone just wanted to look out for the kids’ best interests.”
Jeff Johncox 366-3535 jjohncox@normantranscript.com
