Shall we continue …
- Updated: September 12, 2015
[corner-ad id=2]UPDATE
Weaver, Ashville resume their game at 3 this afternoon; play suspended after stadium loses power
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
ASHVILLE – Weaver offensive coordinator Gary Atchley called it the “weirdest night of football I’ve ever seen” – and it ain’t over yet.
The Bearcats and Ashville return to Kin Logan Stadium here at 3:00 this afternoon to finish what they started 20 hours earlier. Their game was suspended with 11:41 to play Friday night after the stadium lost power on top of a game already had one lengthy delay because of bad weather.
When the game resumes, Weaver will have a 28-20 lead and the ball first-and-10 on the Ashville 33.
“Their weird thing to me is we’re probably going to end up warming up longer than we play,” Atchley said. “It’ll be kind of like playing back in the old youth days when you play at 3 when the sun’s out.
“We just got through playing 3 1-2 quarters of a very physical football game. Our kids were up and so were there and now we’ve got to get all worked up again.”
Everyone in the stadium knew bad weather was coming and the teams go in about half the first quarter before it hit and everyone was pulled off the field.
They returned about a 90-minute delay and played on until, at perhaps the most dramatic point in the important early-season region game, everything went black.
Atchley said there were “sparks everywhere” when the stadium transformers blew. He said the teams were told about 10:30 if the power could be restored by 12:30 a.m. they would be allowed to complete the game.
It never happened.
Weaver head coach Daryl Hamby remembered having a similar situation only once — when he was a Weaver assistant playing at Clay County.
One thing is certain: The Bearcats won’t have quarterback Paul Hubbard on the restart. He suffered a shoulder sprain on the snap right before play was suspended.
They’ll also be without lineman Brandon Boyce. They’re expected back, just not today.
Sophomore Dalton Hamby, the coach’s son, will direct the offense for the remainder of the game. He has been the quarterback the last two years on a Weaver JV team that had not lost a game in three seasons.
“We sat and talked for an hour and we’re trying to come up with the best handful of plays Dalton Hamby and his team can run with him at quarterback,” Atchley said. “We’ve got a 49-yard drive. If we can punch in it, I think we can close this thing out. We’ve got a lot of confidence in Dalton Hamby.”
On the cover: Weaver’s offense runs a play behind Paul Hubbard (5) in last week’s game against Pleasant Valley.
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