FREDERICKTOWN – The Knox-Morrow Athletic Conference season-opening football matchup between host Fredericktown High School and visiting East Knox was stopped at 7:49 p.m. with the game tied at 7, due to thunderstorms, which rolled through the area all evening. Ominous clouds began to gather over Fredericktown, during the second quarter, but the hope was that the winds, which had picked up noticeably, would blow the storm by, quickly and there would be little rain. When the rain got heavier and lightning was spotted, the game was stopped. At the time, officials decided to restart the contest at 8:34 p.m. A few more flashes of lightning made it apparent that the sky was unstable. By nearly 9:30 p.m. and with lightning continuing, the remaining portion of the game was rescheduled to be played on Saturday at 4 p.m.

“It’s a little disappointing,” Fredericktown coach Will Hartley said. “It’s part of the game. Every year, it seems like you get into one delay of some kind. Mother Nature wasn’t too kind to us. It hasn’t rained in three weeks. We’re ramped and ready to go, but, then you see the storm coming in.”

When the game resumes, the Bulldogs will have the ball at their 43-yard line, where it will be second down and 14 yards to go, with 2:49 left to play in the second quarter.

“The safety of the kids comes first,” Hartley said. “There’s no doubt. We’ll live to fight another day and get the game in.”

At the time play was suspended, East Knox running back Ian Toller led all runners, carrying the ball nine times for 50 yards. His teammate, quarterback Peyton Lester, was 3-of-7 passing for 60 yards. Toller scored the Bulldogs’ lone touchdown. The Bulldogs, who were 13-1, last season, have five costly penalties for 50 yards in the first half. Despite that, they still have an opportunity to get the lead before halftime.

The Freddies, meanwhile, has yet to commit a penalty. Quarterback Ben Mast is 3-for-4 for 46 yards and one interception. He ran for the Freddies’ only touchdown. Running back Jeremiah McKinley has run the ball eight times for 24 yards and teammate Steve Tumblsson has seven carries for 20 yards.

“When we start the game back up, this will be the most important two-plus minutes,” Hartley said, “(The Bulldogs) have the ball. We had a little momentum going into this game and, somehow, we are going to have to recapture that on Saturday, get our defense off the field and get into halftime still tied. We don’t want to give up a score for something silly and then, (East Knox) gets the ball for the first series in the second half and an opportunity to score again.”