Friday Night Lights turned into Friday Night Lightning.
Games were shortened, postponed, or called because of torrential rain and bolts from the sky.
The score at the time of mass evacuations from the field and stands stood as final for many of the games. Some, as in the Avocado League, were declared “no contest” and would not be replayed.
Two-and-a-half days later the temperature had jumped to the ’nineties at Madison High, accompanied by dry Santa Ana winds, bringing new meaning to the term “climate change”.
The climate had changed for St. Augustine, which resumed play at Madison, leading the Warhawks, 24-7 with 46 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
The Saints managed to fritter away most of their lead with a series of misadventures but still led, 24-21, when Madison drove 105 yards (actually 85, with an additional 20 in penalties).
The Warhawks won on Brock White’s 35-yard pass to Daniel Stokes on the last play of the game, which was not official until game officials gathered in a far corner of the North end zone, surrounded by players from both sides, to raise their hands signaling the touchdown and a 27-24 Warhawks victory.
1979 REDUX
Almost 39 years earlier, on Oct. 26, 1979, Kearny edged Point Loma, 9-6, in a game that started the night before but was halted when lightning struck a nearby transformer and the lights went out at Mesa College.
Referee Eddie Olsen took the bull by the horns and gathered coaches Bennie Edens of Point Loma and Tom Barnett of Kearny in the middle of the field, rain pouring, thunder in the distance, pitch dark.
Olsen, without consulting CIF commissioner Kendall (Spider) Webb or anyone else, instructed the coaches to bring their teams back to Mesa the following afternoon and play to a conclusion. Edens and Barnett agreed.
Kearny and Point Loma resumed play, the Komets leading, 6-0, with 11:19 remaining in the fourth quarter and eventually pulling out a 9-6 victory.
(Search “1979: Komets and Pointers Play 18-hour Game!” for complete story).
THIS WEEK’S BIGGIE
San Diego (6-1) plays host to Kearny (7-0) in a battle of the City League’s finest. These two old-line powers continue to rise, not to the bigger program levels of Duane Maley’s 85-15 Cavers in the decade of the 1950s or to Birt Slater’s 1963-76 Komets run of 115-33-9, but they have established themselves as Division IV stalwarts.
Beginning with a 58-12 victory (all of its points in the first three quarters) in 1950, San Diego won the first eight meetings between the schools. Slater, after leaving San Diego, where he was an assistant from 1953-57, was 6-2 from 1960-76 against his old employer and Kearny leads the all-time series, 20-17.
Will Gray is 23-17 at Kearny since 2015, including 16-3 in the last two seasons. Charles James is 21-18 at San Diego since 2015 and 18-2 in the last two-plus seasons. Both coaches took over when their programs were in the abyss.
CAL-HI SPORTS
Torrey Pines remained at 14th in the newsletter’s weekly, top 50 rankings, although the Falcons trailed at halftime, 10-7, to San Marcos when the heavens opened.
Torrey Pines, located a couple miles West on Del Mar Heights Road, now can see neighbor Cathedral directly in the Falcons’ rear view mirror. Cathedral still is 15th, but, as noted below, picked up several first place votes in the The Union-Tribune voting.
Eastlake moved from 42nd to 39th, Helix to 42nd from 45th, and La Costa Canyon from 49th to 46th. Carlsbad, San Marcos, and St. Augustine are on the bubble.
Week 9 Union-Tribune poll:
| Rank | Team | 2018 | Points | Previous |
| 1. | Torrey Pines (19) | 7-0 | 287 | 1 |
| 2. | Cathedral (11) | 7-1 | 281 | 2 |
| 3. | Helix | 5-3 | 216 | 3 |
| 4. | La Costa Canyon | 6-1 | 190 | 4 |
| 5. | San Marcos | 6-1 | 175 | 6 |
| 6. | Eastlake | 7-1 | 173 | 5 |
| 7. | Madison | 6-2 | 130 | 7 |
| 8. | Carlsbad | 4-3 | 66 | 9 |
| 9 | Granite Hills | 8-0 | 63 | 10 |
| 10. | St. Augustine | 5-3 | 45 | 9 |
Others: Poway (7-2, 5 points), El Centro Central (8-0, 4), Christian (7-1, 3), Rancho Bernardio (6-2, 3), Christian (6-0, 20), Steele Canyon (6-2, 3), Mission Hills (2-5, 2), Oceanside (4-1, 1), Point Loma (5-3, 1).
Voting panel (30 sportswriters, sportscasters, various County football honchos):
- John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune
- Jim Lindgren, Rick Hoff, Terry Monahan, Don Norcross, Tom Saxe, Union-Tribune correspondents
- Paul Rudy, Brandon Stone, KUSI Chl. 51
- Adam Paul, ECpreps.com
- Ramon Scott, EastCountySports.com
- Bodie DeSilva, sandiegopreps.com
- Ted Mendenhall, Tyler Quellman, The Mighty 1090
- Steve Brand, San Diego Hall of Champions
- Troy Hirsch, Fox 5, San Diego
- Rick Smith, PartletonSports.com
- Jerry Schniepp, John Labeta, Ron Marquez, Carlton Hoggard, CIF San Diego Section
- Joe Heinz, Coordinator, Athletics, Sweetwater School District
- Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net
- Montell Allen, MBA Sports/San Diego Friday Night Lights Magazine
- Bob Petinak, Fox 1360 Radio
- John Kentera, Brandon Suprenant, 97.3 FM The Fan
- Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country 107.9 FM
- Jim Arnaiz, Mike Dolan, John Carroll, San Diego Section Tournament Directors.
