Friday Night Lights: Week 1 offers lopsided scores, Campen’s big run and bolts of lightning

QUINCY — The opening week of the high school football season didn’t offer many surprises or alter many opinions, except for one head-scratching result.

That happened at Ray Hentges Stadium in Jefferson City, Mo.

Hannibal expected to be challenged by Jefferson City Helias, but the third-quarter breakdowns that resulted in the Crusaders scoring three touchdowns on their first nine plays of the second half and rolling to a 49-13 victory were shocking. The Crusaders invoked the running clock before the end of the third quarter when they went ahead 42-7.

It was the first time Hannibal had been running clocked since losing at Helias 46-0 in the 2019 season opener.

The running clock proved to be a Week 1 theme. Seven games involving area teams ended with the mercy rule enacted.

Run, Brady, Run

One of the games decided in the fourth quarter without a running clock took place in Unionville, Mo., and a big play set up a critical first-half touchdown.

On a sweep play toward the left sideline, the Putnam County defense appeared to string the play out and keep Highland’s Brady Campen from getting to the corner. A burst of speed got Campen around the edge and up the sideline to midfield, where he cut back across the grain and took an angle toward the corner of the end zone.

Campen was pulled down at the 3-yard line, but his 84-yard run led to an Alex Oenning touchdown as the Cougars rallied from a 14-0 deficit for a 32-26 victory.

Lightning strikes, thunder rolls

Because of impending weather issues, a lopsided halftime score and a numbers issue, the Macomb and Lewistown football coaches, along with consent from administrators, decided to end Friday night’s game at halftime. The Bombers led 34-0 at the time.

Kickoff had been pushed back to 8 p.m. due to excessive heat, and lightning in the area forced further delays at the start of the second half. With no break in the weather in sight, the teams decided to call it a game instead of suspending it and resuming play Saturday.

Two other area games being played Friday night experienced weather delays. Illini West’s 39-12 loss to Famrington had to be completed Saturday when play was suspended in the third quarter at Fuzz Berges Field in Carthage. The Farmers led 26-0 at the time.

In Mount Sterling, Brown County’s 44-15 loss to state-ranked Greenfield-Northwestern had to be finished Saturday due to lightning.

Start, stop, start, stop, start, stop

Pittsfield’s season opener at Athens in Sangamo Conference play turned into a series of delays before administrators finally pulled the plug altogether.

Lightning forced the first delay during warmups, originally pushing an 8 p.m. start back at least 10 or 15 minutes. Eventually, the teams settled on a 9 p.m. kickoff. A power outage knocked out the stadium lights at Athens, further delaying kickoff until 9:35 p.m. That was pushed back to 10:05 p.m.

Eventually, around 11 p.m. Friday after the teams played one quarter and Athens led 7-0, the game was suspended until Saturday evening. The Warriors, ranked second in the Class 2A state poll, came out Saturday and rolled to a 40-0 victory..

Reichert earns first coaching victory

Quincy Notre Dame graduate and former Truman State defensive lineman Nick Reichert earned his first victory as a head coach Friday night.

After spending the previous two seasons as the defensive coordinator at Hortonville High School in Hortonville, Wis., Reichert took over as head coach this season. The Polar Bears beat Pulaski 13-0 for their first victory of the season and the first of Reichert’s career.

Prior to his move to Wisconsin, Reichert had served as the defensive coordinator at Columbia (Mo.) Battle.

Quote of the week

“It lit more than a fire. It lit the whole forest on fire.” — Quincy High School senior lineman Cole Wagy on the reaction to Quincy Notre Dame players stomping on “Q” at midfield during warmups.