Elmira officially loses football opener when lightning suspends play after 1 quarter

Elmira's only home football game of the first month of the season lasted just over a quarter before ongoing lightning strikes nearby led an early finish to the Express' season-opener against Section 3's Liverpool on Friday night at the Thomas J. Hurley Athletic Complex. Mother Nature ended up costing the Express a loss, at least in the official record books.

Liverpool led 14-8 when the game was suspended with 11:46 to go in the first half.

Based on National Federation of State High School Associations rules, the game will go down as an Elmira loss despite only a quarter being completed, Section 4 football coordinator Jeff Paske confirmed Saturday. The Section 4 handbook states, "If both schools agree not to continue the game, the game does not have to be finished and the score at the time of the stoppage stands."

Paske agreed that in theory a team could return the opening kickoff for a touchdown and be considered the winner under those guidelines.

A decision was made by the schools' athletic directors to discontinue play after a delay of about 45 minutes that started around 7:45 p.m. Lightning was still in the area and more stormy weather was forecast. Lightning remained in the vicinity well past 9 p.m.

"Both teams agreed, so it is what it is," Paske said. "If one team didn't agree, then I guess they could force the other team to say, 'OK, you've got to give us a forfeit.' But they both agreed, so the score stands."

The Elmira City School District Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony was scheduled for halftime and athletic director Zack Lloyd said it will be rescheduled, with the date to be announced.

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Elmira reaction

Lloyd found out Saturday morning the game officially counts as a defeat. Wins and losses weren't considered Friday night when the decision was made to call the game in consultation with the Liverpool athletic director.

"We're content with however it's recorded officially," Lloyd said Saturday. "I think we made the right decision for the kids, the right decision for our kids, their kids. As far as whether it's a win or a loss, we're learning what we need to learn Week 1. We're OK with it."

Express head coach Jimmy McCauley said he hadn't given the official result many thoughts after being told it would go as a loss. He focused on how his team played.

"I thought we didn't do very well," he said Saturday. "We kind of hurt ourselves, the self-inflicted wounds. I think Liverpool's a good team, I think they're going to make a good run. But if you want to compete against good teams, you' can't hurt yourself."

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Why not reschedule?

The two-hour distance between the schools made the potential of rescheduling the game a big ask of everyone involved. Neither team has an open date.

"That's not what's best for kids, traveling that far to pick up a game like that," Lloyd said. "I appreciate Liverpool. They were great and we move on to Week 2."

The outcome will not impact Elmira from a postseason perspective. There are only three Class AA teams in Section 4 and all three qualify for the playoffs. The top seed, and bye into the final, will be determined by results between Elmira, Corning and Binghamton.

When asked about the potential of resuming play, McCauley said "it's hard" given the distance between the schools and other considerations.

"The way the schedule goes now that we’re playing Section 3 teams, we already scrimmaged Utica Proctor, which is over a three-hour bus ride," he said. "We go to Baldwinsville to play a 6:30 game. We’re going to be leaving at 1 o’clock Friday from school.

"Liverpool said they couldn’t come back down because of kind of a budget deal with traveling and quite honestly we didn’t have that in our budget to go back up there and do it. It’s one of those scheduling things ... I know it looks nice when (Section) 4 plays 3, but it’s not always ideal. It doesn’t make it as easy. I know these things don’t happen very often, but it doesn’t make it convenient for sure."

Johnson City had similar experience

Paske is also athletic director at Johnson City High School. Last year Johnson City had a road game against Chester of Section 9 called at halftime after the lights went out. with Chester leading 20-12.

Weeks later, the Wildcats learned that was a loss and it lowered their seed in the Section 4 Class B tournament, putting them into a semifinal against eventual state champion Maine-Endwell.

"We weren’t aware of the rule. We assumed it would be a no-contest at the time," Paske said. "Unfortunately a few weeks later we found out according to NFHS rules, which we follow, that whatever the score was at the time the score stands and we take the loss."

Stars of the Game

Despite just over 12 minutes of game time, there were some notable performances.

Johnnie Garcia carried five times for 62 yards, though he fumbled the ball away inside Liverpool's 10-yard line as the Express was driving for a potential tying touchdown.

Elmira's Kayon Flint carried seven times for 33 yards and scored on a 3-yard run on the Express' opening drive. Daeshaun Harris had three rushes for 38 yards.

Liverpool quarterback John Sindoni completed six of eight passes for 88 yards and scored on a 3-yard run with 3:29 left in the opening quarter to give the Warriors the lead after trailing 8-7.

This was the second game for Liverpool, which was a 61-44 winner over Section 2's Ballston Spa in a Week 0 contest.

Express star Amir Williams exited early

Elmira junior fullback Amir Williams left the game with a leg injury after getting hurt on a carry on the opening drive. Williams, a fifth-team Class AA all-state pick last year, finished with 14 yards on four carries.

Williams was visibly frustrated as he tested the leg from the sideline. Elmira's trainer wrapped the ankle area in ice and Williams watched the remainder of the play from the bench and sideline.

"I think Amir is going to be OK," McCauley said. "Twisted ankle, tendon thing. We'll take it day-by-day and see how it goes."

Williams suffered a broken ankle in Elmira's loss to Corning in last year's Section 4 Class AA final.

"The kid’s pretty resilient. He works really hard," McCauley said. "He’s one of our kids who practices really, really hard. You know what you’re going to get from him, so when something like that happens to a kid like that it’s not fun. It’s not fun for any of the kids to get hurt. You don’t want that to happen to anybody – on our side or their side."

Takeaways from Elmira's play

There were things to be learned from the limited amount of football that was played.

"I felt like we were hurting ourselves a lot," McCauley said. "We were able to move the ball, but as far as miscues we had too many penalties, really timely penalties. Special teams comes out and doesn’t take care of the football and doesn’t do what we’re supposed to do. Then we put the ball on the ground. Those are things you can’t do if you plan on winning.

"As far as my perspective, we’re going to watch film and take it like we played the game and try to make corrections. We’ve got our hands full next week. We had our hands full this week. I don’t think there’s any easy games. We’re up at Baldwinsville and they’ve got some big boys."

Up next

That game against Section 3's Baldwinsville is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Sept. 15, beginning a stretch of three straight road games for the Express. Elmira is at Waverly on Sept. 22 and at Horseheads on Sept. 29.

Follow Andrew Legare on Twitter: @SGAndrewLegare. You can also reach him at alegare@gannett.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today

This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Liverpool credited with win vs. Elmira after lightning cuts short play