Lightning strikes down football game

The Fallbrook High football team hosted its first home game in more than a month Oct. 12 and the varsity contest against Ramona lasted less than five minutes thanks to Mother Nature.

Lightning prompted officials to suspend the game with 7:33 remaining in the first quarter and Ramona holding a 6-0 lead, the result of a touchdown scored immediately before play was halted (the Bulldogs never had the chance to kick the PAT).

CIF rules state that if lightning can be seen within 10 miles of a stadium, play is to be halted and players are to be removed from the field. Thirty minutes is put on the scoreboard clock and if there isn't any lightning during that period, play can resume.

With 14 minutes left on the clock, more lightning could be seen and the clock was reset to 30 minutes. It was announced that if any more lightning occurred during the second 30-minute break, the game would be suspended for the night. That is exactly what happened.

The head referee huddled with Fallbrook High head coach Darius Pickett, Ramona head coach Damon Baldwin (who is also Ramona's athletic director) and Fallbrook High athletic director Patrick Walker in midfield and stated, "This is not a safe environment for playing football. We're seeing lightning from every direction."

The referee offered a couple of options to the coaches, such as trying to resume the game Saturday (Oct. 13) or Monday (Oct. 15). The forecast for more possible lightning made Saturday undesirable, and neither coach wanted to play Monday, which is when teams start preparing for their next opponent.

The next step was determining what to call the game – a "no contest" (which means the greatly-shortened game essentially never happened) or a 6-0 win for Ramona. Due to power rankings, Ramona, a Division II team who entered the game with 5-2 overall mark and a 2-0 league record, preferred to have the game called a "no contest" because a win against Division IV Fallbrook (2-5 and 0-2) would adversely affect Ramona in the rankings. Fallbrook, conversely, would benefit in the strength of schedule category for having played a Division II opponent and preferred that the contest be counted as a game.

In the end, after discussions over the weekend between Walker and Baldwin, the game was declared a no contest.

"That was the agreement because it really hurt them in the power rankings if they made it a game that counted, and since we only went four minutes into the first quarter, it would not be fair to take that as an actual contest," said Walker.

Some interesting plays occurred during the brief game that won't be documented in the record books. Fallbrook, on its second play from scrimmage in its only possession, tried a little razzle-dazzle that fooled the Ramona defense but an overthrown pass negated the chance for a big gain or potential touchdown.

Ramona started its only possession at its own 29-yard line and scored eight plays later on a 2-yard touchdown run by Josh Fletcher. The drive was aided by what many observers believed to be a missed call of a Ramona fumble that Fallbrook recovered at the 1-yard line. The official ruled that the fumbled ball had gone out of bounds before being recovered by Fallbrook, and thus Ramona maintained possession.

When the announcement was made that the game was being called, boos could be heard from the crowd – likely because the lightning appeared far off and it wasn't raining. However, the lightning show and rain that ensued all across Fallbrook and most of San Diego County a little bit later proved it was the right decision.

"It's disappointing," said Pickett immediately following the announcement that the game had been suspended. "The kids came out fired up and I thought they were playing decent ball. I know they're going to be disappointed too."

An assistant coach provided a little ray of sunshine when he informed Pickett that the players had been requested to report to the concession stand for an important assignment – to consume the hot dogs, hamburgers and tacos that had been stranded by the departing crowd. "Coaches too?" asked Pickett, who apparently hadn't lost his appetite over the cancellation.

Fallbrook High, weather permitting, will play its homecoming game Friday, Oct. 19, against San Pasqual, which is 4-4 overall and 1-2 in league play. Kickoff is 7 p.m.