Southmoore and Edmond Santa Fe Brave Bad Weather

Originally Published: Oct 8, 2009 10:11 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

MOORE, Oklahoma – Wet and sloppy conditions limited both teams, but the Southmoore Sabercats went into halftime with a 14-6 lead.

Lightning caused the game to be delayed for half an hour, and rain continued to fall throughout the game. The bad weather caused dropped passes, bad snaps and difficulty fielding punts for both teams.

Southmoore started the scoring thanks to a mistake caused by the weather. Edmond Santa Fe sustained a long drive, but the wet ball slipped out of the hands of Santa Fe quarterback Will Long. Southmoore’s Austin Haywood scooped up the ball and returned it 76 yards for a touchdown and 7-0 lead.

The Wolves responded with a touchdown on their next drive, which was extended by three fourth down conversions. First, junior Patrick Hinton converted a fake punt into a first down. The Sabercats then committed a defensive holding penalty on a play that would have given them the ball.

Will Long then completed the drive on yet another fourth down with a pass to senior receiver Matt Leavell. The Wolves could not convert the ensuing fourth down conversion, and trailed 7-6.

With less than four minutes remaining in the half, a bolt of lightning struck very close to the stadium and forced officials to delay the game again. The coaches had the option to run off the final few minutes of the half, but Southmoore coach Chris Jensen elected to play.

The decision turned out to be a wise one, because the Sabercats converted the next drive into a touchdown pass from Kendal Thompson to Austin Haywood to take a 14-6 lead into halftime.