Athletic directors, coaches preaching caution when dealing with opening-week heat wave

QUINCY — Experience has taught Matt McClelland to always err on the side of caution.

That explains why the Quincy High School boys soccer team’s season opener Tuesday night against Jacksonville was postponed. No makeup date has been set yet, but the Blue Devils and Crimsons intend to play the game once this heat wave passes.

McClelland, the QHS athletic director, first made the decision to move the start time back one hour to combat temperatures climbing into the upper 90s. But with the heat index forecasted to be hovering around 108 degrees at game time, there was no reason to risk anything. Thus, the postponement.

“It’s more important to have them playing next week and beyond,” McClelland said. “There’s no reason to put them at risk right now.”

That is an overriding theme as the week unfolds.

Teams have adjusted practice schedules to avoid the mid-day heat with temperatures forecasted to reach triple digits and heat indexes soaring higher. Practicing and playing on artificial turf increases the heat.

So the QHS and Quincy Notre Dame football teams are practicing before school. Illini West, Hannibal and others are practicing under the lights once the sun sets. The Canton softball team went indoors Tuesday. Everyone is looking for a little bit of relief.

“It’s hot for everybody,” QND senior football player Ben Schwartz said. “It’s just as hot for them as it is for us. You just work through it.”

The heat could alter the weekend schedule dramatically.

Already two Friday night football games have pushed the kickoff back an hour. Hannibal’s season opener at Jefferson City Helias and Brown County’s game against Greenfield-Northwestern will both begin at 8 p.m.

The crosstown showdown at Flinn Stadium between the QHS and Quincy Notre Dame football teams remains scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff, but conversations will continue about pushing the start time back.

There has been no discussion about moving the game to Saturday when the heat is scheduled to break. Friday’s forecast calls for a high temperature of 96 degrees with the heat index somewhere in the 105-degree range. Saturday’s high temperature is supposed to be 87 degrees.

However, moving to Saturday is one option athletic directors are willing to entertain. One of the issues with moving games to Saturday will be the availability of officials, something that is already problematic on a normal night.

The heat-related issues aren’t limited to the gridiron alone.

The QND boys soccer team is scheduled to play host to the Quincy Recycle/QND Tournament this weekend at Advance Physical Therapy Field. Already, the Thursday contest against Jacksonville has been pushed back to a 7 p.m. start with further adjustments pending.

The Raiders are scheduled to play Ladue Horton Watkins at 3:30 p.m. Friday at a time when the heat index likely will be at its zenith. Conversations about the possible need to restructure the tournament likely will be ongoing the next day or two.