Saint Jo and Forestburg kicked off the first of their two-game series this season Friday night in Forestburg, where the puzzling ending came out of nowhere.
A conclusion fraught by lightning, a scuffle between coaches and a game forfeit.
Looking to avenge the last four years where the Longhorns held the Chisholm Trail trophy in the matchup, the Panthers started off strong.
Forestburg got the ball first and looked to try and pound Saint Jo down with straight ahead power runs with big running back Zach Bradley, a strategy and mindset new Longhorns Coach Kyler Roach wants his team to take on as its identity.
This not only wore down the opposing the defense, but also shortened the game as time was continuously running from the clock and allowing less time for opposing teams to try and score.
The Panthers were able to gang tackle Bradley enough to slow Forestburg down and eventually a turnover on downs. Saint Jo then drove down the field and Hunter Garrett scored on a 20-yard run to give the Panthers a 6-0 lead.
The Longhorns received the ball and again went back to work with the power running game. The first quarter eventually came to an end and despite Forestburg dominating the time of possession, they were trailing, but it would not be for long.
Early in the second quarter, Bradley plunged in from 3-yards out to tie the game at 6-6. Saint Jo wasted no time in responding as they moved down the field with their passing game. Preston Lyons eventually found Blake Anderson from 25 yards out to put the Panthers up 12-6 in a drive that took less than a minute.
The Longhorns tried to go back to their bread and butter, but found themselves behind the sticks. Desperate pass attempts went through the hands of open receivers and Forestburg turned the ball over on downs. Saint Jo immediately scored on the next play with Anderson running the ball in from 31 yards out to go up 18-6.
It was the same story after that. The Panthers forced another turnover on downs and drove down to score again with Anderson from 10 yards out to go up 24-6. Things only got worse as Saint Jo recovered an onside kick. Garrett then scored a few plays later on a 23-yard run. The good kick made the score 32-6.
Looking to respond before halftime, the Longhorns were looking to drive, but things took another turn as the Panther’s Damian Leyva recovered a fumble with 1:29 left before halftime. At this moment, a lightning delay was called.
About 40 minutes later, it was reported Forestburg had forfeited the game.
The Saint Jo fans and team were confused at the call for forfeit as they felt the weather was clearing enough for them to play.
“I wasn’t really given (a reason),” Saint Jo Coach Derek Schlieve said. “The ref just came out and said they are not coming back out. I don’t know if they were anticipating the weather staying, but we were kind of in the same confusion as everyone else.”
One factor that might have played into it besides the weather was an altercation that happened during the delay between Schlieve and Roach that almost turned physical.
“They wanted to check the radar without us,” Schlieve said. “I said no, we will check the radar together and they had had a lightning delay they did not inform us of. The (referee) came up to us and said it was his fault, but the Forestburg coach wanted to check the lightning radar inside without us there. When we did check the lightning together there was none.”
That was just one of a list of things Schlieve said had gone awry that night. Schlieve said he was not given a roster and noticed someone filming from their phone the whole game on the Forestburg sideline, all things he was not pleased with from the Forestburg side.
This led to the altercation where Schlieve admitted to jumping over a railing at the entrance to his locker room where he and Roach exchanged words face-to-face.
“I jumped over the railing and said we are staying inside and then told him to put his hands down because he had come up and put his hands up,” Schlieve said. “I said put your hands down, we are not doing that.”
Schlieve said there were many witnesses to the altercation, but he did not think much of it since it did not go past that.
Roach chose not to comment when asked about what went on during the lightning delay. He pointed to the weather being bad and had no further comment on why the Longhorns chose to forfeit the game.

To read the whole story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.