It’s not often a football game ends in a cliffhanger, but that’s exactly what happened, at least temporarily, between Homestead and Noblesville at Homestead on Friday.
With the Spartans trailing 21-6 in the second quarter and facing a crucial third-and-4 in Noblesville territory, lightning was spotted in the area and fans and team personnel were evacuated from the stadium.
Not everyone was happy about the delay when Homestead seemed to have momentum.
“Damn, I was ready,” Homestead quarterback Michael White remarked to a teammate on his way off the field. “We were gonna score, too.”
White will have to wait until this afternoon to continue the drive the Spartans had in progress with 5:32 left before halftime. After a short delay and no end to the lightning in sight, the game was postponed and will be picked back up at 2 p.m. today.
“You gotta get yourself juiced back up in about 12 hours, right?” Homestead coach Chad Zolman said. “You practice all week and work all week for something and I think that creates an energy on its own. I don’t think it’ll be a problem.”
At the time of postponement, White was having a terrific game, having run seven times for 69 yards and completed 3 of 4 passes for 44 yards.
A 10-yard sack of White stalled Homestead’s first possession, with the ball in the Class 6A No. 13 Millers’ territory, but the Spartans marched 67 yards on eight plays for a touchdown their next time with the ball, capping the drive with a 4-yard rushing score from senior Jake Thrash to make it 14-6 with 9:22 left in the second quarter. The extra point was blocked.
The Spartans’ third drive had already gained 44 yards to the Noblesville 39 before the weather intervened.
But even Homestead’s stellar offensive efficiency could not match that of Noblesville’s triple-option offense, which ran the ball on 22 of its 23 plays and had touchdown scampers of 35 and 80 yards, the latter immediately matching the Spartan scoring drive.
”We’re going to study some film tonight,” Zolman said. “It’s a hard offense because of the misdirection and it’s hard visually for these guys to find the football. We practiced at it all week. We’ve seen some things I think we can fix, hopefully get a couple stops.”
Snider-East Noble: Change of scenery
Snider vs. East Noble is on the move.
The nonconference matchup, which began at Spuller Stadium on Friday night, will resume this morning at 10 a.m. at North Side. There will be no admission charged when the game resumes.
The game was suspended due to lightning immediately after the Panthers (0-1) took a 21-10 lead on a 16-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Aaron Vance to senior receiver Jamarion Kolagbodi with 10:23 remaining in the third quarter.
It was Snider’s first passing touchdown of the new season.
The Knights were the first to get on the scoreboard in the first quarter, as senior running back Dylan Krehl barreled into the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown.
Snider’s first points of the season came midway through the second quarter when Brandon Logan scored a touchdown on a 52-yard punt return, tying the game at 7-all.
Snider’s first offensive touchdown of the year came with just under a minute to play in the first half. The Panthers fumbled on an attempted hand-off, but Vance picked up the ball and ran to the end zone for a 31-yard touchdown.
East Noble’s Alex Sprague hit a 31-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter to cut Snider’s halftime lead to 14-10.
Other games affected
• Bishop Luers-New Haven was suspended at halftime with the Knights in front 20-12 and was tentatively scheduled to resume at 10 a.m. today at New Haven.
• Carroll trailed Class 6A No. 7 Center Grove 28-14 at halftime at Center Grove when the game was suspended. No resumption was announced.
• Woodlan at Central Noble was suspended in the first quarter and will resume at 10 a.m. today.
• Huntington North led Northrop 36-30 and play will resume in the third quarter at 3 p.m. today.
• West Noble is in front of Wawasee 28-0 at the end of the first quarter. It will resume at 10 a.m. today at Wawasee.
• Churubusco trailed Lakeland 17-8 at the start of the third quarter when play resumed at 10:40 p.m. Friday.
