Thunder and lightning are football’s worst enemies.
Thunderstorms in Tallahassee and across the Big Bend area ended many preseason Kickoff Classic high school football games before they started on Friday, Aug. 14.
Scheduled to be played at Gene Cox Stadium, the Amos P. Godby Cougars against the Florida High School Seminoles game didn’t happen. It would have marked the first senior year showing for Tallahassee’s most prized recruit, and Clemson Tigers commit, five-star wide receiver Jamarin Simmons.
New Gadsden County Jaguars head coach Daniel Fish couldn’t make his debut against the Lincoln Trojans as their matchup was canceled at Lawton-Chiles High School. Another first-year coach, Derek Allen of Wakulla, also had his debut scrapped as the War Eagles were set to host Evans High School, which visited from Orlando.
The Leon Lions were to play a home game on campus against the Maclay Maurauders. That game was also affected by the Tallahassee thunderstorm and was called off before kickoff.
Aucilla Christian and Branford High School waited it out and kicked off at 9:30 p.m.
The Florida High School Athletic Association’s Week 1 of the regular season is set to begin next Friday, Aug. 21. It will feature the longstanding high school football rivalry game between Godby and James S. Rickards, which will kick off at 7 p.m. inside Gene Cox Stadium.
Rickards played a Kickoff Classic game on Thursday, Aug. 20, and handily defeated Jacksonville’s Jean Ribault High School 35-2 behind a three-touchdown performance by quarterback Jordan Kelley.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Thunderstorms scrap Big Bend football Kickoff Classic games