Opening nights are often memorable.

But burning the midnight oil in Kittanning won’t soon be forgotten by the those who saw and played in the first-ever Armstrong River Hawks football game last Friday.

Armstrong defeated Hollidaysburg, 33-14, in a game that featured three weather delays and didn’t finish until 12:17 a.m. Saturday.

What’s more, Hollidaysburg’s team buses didn’t leave until about 12:40, getting back to the school about 2:45.

“There wasn’t too much traffic on (Route) 422 at that time of night,” Golden Tigers coach Homer DeLattre said.

DeLattre also said he didn’t leave his office until about 3:30.

Students who live in the outlying areas of the school district probably got home at that same time.

Armstrong County had heavy thunderstorms about 5:30 Friday afternoon.

Officials delayed the start of the game 30 minutes until 7:30.

Early in the second quarter, lightning was spotted, the field officials stopped play and the teams headed to their locker rooms.

Under WPIAL guidelines endorsed by agencies such as the national federation, a 30-minute wait must be observed after the final lightning sighting.

After a 35-minute delay, action resumed for six plays until thunderstorms menaced central Armstrong County at about 8:37.

Lightning continued. The guidelines also state that each time lightning is witnessed, a new 30-minute clock begins.

Play resumed at 10:34 p.m. with more than six minutes left in the second quarter.

Teams took a 13-minute halftime break and played through until the game’s conclusion with still a respectable number of fans in the stands.

The bands, which also were ushered from the stands because of the threatening weather, did their halftime performances in the Kittanning High School gym during the lengthy delay.

DeLattre, meanwhile, was concerned about sending his players back onto the field with empty stomachs.

“They hadn’t eaten since mid-afternoon, so we had to get some food for them,” the Hollidaysburg coach said. “You couldn’t expect them to go out there and safely play.”

The weather front didn’t seem to move, either. There was no wind and the storm cell was stationary.

If that wasn’t enough, the Hollidaysburg junior varsity had a game at 10 a.m. Saturday against Martinsburg Central. For the few who saw action in the varsity game, it was a quick turnaround.

Armstrong’s junior varsity game against Freeport was moved back an hour to 11 a.m.

Armstrong ‘firsts’

In case you’re keeping track, here are the various firsts in Armstrong football history

• First coin toss: Armstrong won. Result was a touchback.

• First play from scrimmage: Quarterback Dawson Porter, 9-yard run.

• First touchdown: Zane Dudek, 4-yard run, 8:50 left, first quarter

• First turnover: Dudek, pass interception, 1:47, second quarter

• First PAT: Anthony Falsetti, conversion run, 1:57 first quarter.

75 and counting

Happy 75th anniversary to the Plum football program.

The Mustangs played their first game Sept. 12, 1940, against Franklin Township, the forerunner of Franklin Regional.

Plum defeated the Longhorns, 13-12.

Plum opened its doors in the fall of 1939 but did not sponsor football until the school district’s second year.

Just think how the demographics of those two neighboring school districts have changed in three-quarters of a century.

Plum, then a township, was a collection of farms and small coal mining towns such as Renton and Barking.

Murrysville consisted of a number of farms — thus the nickname Longhorns.

George Guido is a Valley News Dispatch scholastic sports correspondent. His column appears Wednesdays.

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