NWA football openers rescheduled for Thursday

Matt Jones
August 29, 2012

FAYETTEVILLE — The first games of the 2012 football season will come earlier than expected for some Northwest Arkansas schools.

Rogers, Alma and Van Buren will open their seasons on Thursday. Van Buren and Alma will meet at 7 p.m. on Thursday in Alma, while Rogers' game at Mountain Home will start at the same time.

"There was some scrambling today because we didn't get the confirmation until about 3:30 or 4 o'clock," Rogers coach Shawn Flannigan said. "We had to go into practice to get work done as if it were a Wednesday, but then scale back enough to go through our normal Thursday routine and save our legs.

"It was an organizational nightmare, emailing parents and calling the important people in terms of pregame meals and buses."

The moves are in preparation for expected heavy winds and rainfall in the state on Friday as the remnants of Hurricane Isaac move northward. The teams were originally scheduled to play on Friday.

"The rain was not an issue during the game; it was more of the lightning," Flannigan said. "Then there was also the aspect of getting home. If there are 40 mile-per-hour winds and the possibility of tornadoes, it doesn't break my heart not having to drive home in that kind of weather."

In all, 22 Arkansas high school games have been rescheduled as a result of the storms.