HURRICANE MATTHEW FORCES POSTPONEMENTS

T&D Region high school football teams started this week with regular preparations for Friday night games.

On Tuesday, all of that changed quite a bit.

School districts throughout the region announced school closings for the remainder of this week, due to impending heavy rains and winds from the approaching Hurricane Matthew, along with schools being used as shelters for those fleeing the Coastal region of South Carolina during the time the storm makes landfall and passes through the region.

That decision forced area football coaches and athletic directors to change the plan for the games scheduled at the end of this week. Most have moved their games to Monday night, after the storm is projected to have moved away.

A complete list of T&D Region game changes for this week are listed below.

Orangeburg-Wilkinson may just cancel its previously-scheduled homecoming game against South Aiken, since it is not a region game. But, as of Tuesday night, no final decision had been made.

The game with perhaps the biggest impact to area football fans is the Bamberg-Ehrhardt at Calhoun County game, which this season is a region game in the Class 2A ranks. The game has been rescheduled for Monday at 7 p.m. in St. Matthews.

But, with schools in Orangeburg, Bamberg and Calhoun Counties closing for Wednesday through Friday, football teams are not allowed to practice on days that students do not have classes, due to South Carolina High School League rules.

“Everything should be equal, with us both being out of school,” Calhoun County head football coach Bill Kimrey said. “It could be worse; I’ve talked with one coach (in Columbia) who can’t practice but has to play a team in the Upstate who can practice all week.

“We can’t practice the rest of the week, but we can meet on Sunday, since that starts a new week. We'll just have to adjust.”

Another problem most teams will encounter involves games scheduled for Friday, Oct. 14. The SCHSL discourages teams from playing two football games in the same week, unless both teams agree it is best. So, some games may be moved to Saturday, Oct. 15 to accommodate an extra day of practice and recovery.

“It will be different, since we’ll have to get our plan ready for Silver Bluff this week, then play Bamberg-Ehrhardt on Monday,” Kimrey said. “But, I guess all of our area teams are in the same boat.

“Hopefully it’s not like (Hurricane) Hugo (in 1989). I was coaching at Lower Richland then and brought the team back from our game that night to find sleeping bags and first aid kits all over the gym. I didn’t see my players for two weeks. Guess we’ll just see what happens with this storm, ride it out and roll with the punches.”

T&D REGION FOOTBALL GAMES RESCHEDULED:

Colleton Prep at Dorchester Academy, rescheduled for Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Pause
Current Time 0:00
/
Duration Time 0:00
Loaded: 0%Progress: 0%0:00
Fullscreen
00:00
Mute
Calhoun Academy at Northwood Academy, cancelled

Scott’s Branch at Bethune-Bowman, rescheduled for Monday at 7 p.m.

Bamberg-Ehrhardt at Calhoun County, rescheduled for Monday at 7 p.m.

Branchville at Cross, postponed with no rescheduled date yet

Edisto at Pelion, rescheduled for Monday at 7 p.m.

Hunter-Kinard-Tyler at Williston-Elko, no decision made as of Tuesday night

Bishop England at Lake Marion, rescheduled for Monday at 6:30 p.m.

North at Wagener-Salley, rescheduled for Monday at 7:30 p.m.

South Aiken at Orangeburg-Wilkinson, no decision made as of Tuesday night

Burke at Woodland, postponed until further notice, may be played Monday

Orangeburg Prep at Ben Lippen, rescheduled for Monday at 6:30 p.m.

Beaufort Academy at Andrew Jackson Academy, postponed with no rescheduled date yet

Holly Hill Academy at Wardlaw Academy, rescheduled for Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

Denmark-Olar at Estill, rescheduled for Monday at 7:30 p.m.