COLLINSVILLE – What was left of Tropical Storm Gordon finally reached the area Friday evening just as Week 3’s high school football games were about to get underway.
Gordon’s rains came to Collinsville at the outset of Southwestern Conference opener between Alton and the Kahoks at Kahok Stadium and never let up; the rain seemed to let up right towards the end of the first half, but as the rain tapered off, lightning hit the area and never let up, forcing officials to suspend the game with 2:23 left in the second quarter and the Redbirds holding a 7-0 lead; the game will be resumed at 2 p.m. today at the point of suspension; no admission will be charged for the resumption of the game.
“Leaving tonight, I thought we had a nice window of opportunity to get it in,” said Redbird coach Eric Dickerson after the suspension of the game was announced. “We thought maybe it was going to hold off after 10; obviously, that didn’t happen for us, so we’ll set to regroup and come back tomorrow.”
The only score of the game came in the opening quarter when Terrance Walker ran it in from 26 yards out to give the Redbirds the lead. “Offensively, from the 20 to the 20, we were pretty good; we were able to move the ball,” Dickerson said. “We get inside the red zone, get inside the 10, we kind of shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times – two fumbles to be exact and a fourth-and-short and we couldn’t convert.
“Some things hopefully we can cure and get ready for tomorrow.”
Tim Johnson did yeoman’s work for the Redbirds, accounting for 170 yards of offense prior to the game’s suspension. “We’re opening some nice holes and he’s following his blocks; hopefully we can continue that tomorrow,” Dickerson said.
