Lightning definitely struck Friday night near Mary Persons High School, but when? That’s the question fueling a controversy between two Georgia high school football rivals.
Trailing Mary Persons 29-27 on a stormy Friday night, Lamar County was lining up for a potential tying two-point conversion late in the third quarter when officials detected lightning and halted play. The game never resumed and Mary Persons was declared the winner.
Lamar County coach Jamie Abrams sent a letter of protest Monday to the Georgia High School Association. The GHSA responded by citing Rule 1 Section 1 Article 11 of the National Federation of State High School Association’s football rulebook, which prohibits protests.
Abrams said he is not protesting the NFSHA rule regarding protests, but believes a different rule that governs games being cancelled before a potential winning or tying play is allowed to run was not enforced.
After the game, Abrams reviewed his own lightning detector data and didn’t agree with the decision to stop play. He acknowledged that safety is always a priority and weather delays can be judgment calls, but was frustrated by the timing of everything.
“We’re not asking for a win or a loss,” Abrams said. “We’re asking for a no contest. That’s what they would do if the game was suspended in the first half and both teams agreed not to play, they would deem it a no contest.
“This was the only time our seniors got to play Mary Persons,” Abrams added. “It’s a huge rivalry.”
Mary Persons coach Brian Nelson is confident all lightning protocol was followed and agreed with Abrams that the timing was unfortunate.
“Everybody wanted to keep playing that game. It was a good football game,” Nelson said. “I had kids sitting in the locker room who didn’t understand. We sat there the full two hours. It was just real unfortunate timing. It’s no one’s fault. Everyone followed the GHSA protocol for lightning.”
The two schools are located less than 20 miles apart, but play in different classifications. There were no playoff implications at stake, only bragging rights. Lamar County had not lost a regular-season game since 2010 and has beaten Mary Persons only four times in 34 meetings.
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