The Tigers (0-2) were scheduled to play Mansfield Timberview (0-2) at 7 p.m. Saturday at MISD Stadium, but on Thursday the teams postponed their matchup until 7:30 p.m. next Friday in Mansfield.
Ike is expected to hit the Mansfield area Saturday afternoon and produce heavy rain and winds ranging from 30-50 mph.
With people evacuating metropolitan areas in southeast Texas to avoid Ike, highways likely will be bogged down with heavy traffic.
“It came down to the amount of traffic being on the road,” Belton coach and athletic director Rodney Southern said. “Looking as a whole, there is great concern on Saturday so we canceled all Belton athletic events for that day.
“The problem we ran into is both stadiums (in Mansfield) are being used Thursday and Friday night, so they didn’t have a place to play the game any earlier. They didn’t want to play at a neutral site and lose a home game. This decision is probably the best for everyone from a safety standpoint.”
The schedule change might have a deeper impact on the Tigers. Belton had scheduled to play its three non-district games - Ennis, Round Rock McNeil and Timberview - and then take a week off before beginning District 12-5A play at Harker Heights on Sept. 25.
Now, the Tigers won’t have the luxury of two weeks of rest for the all-important district season.
“I’d rather play it this week,” Southern said. “I’d like to have a little extra time to fully prepare for district.”
In other changes, Cameron Yoe’s game at Lexington (1-1), originally scheduled for Friday but then moved to Thursday, has been canceled. It will not be made up because the teams’ open dates are scheduled for different weeks.
The starting time for Granger’s home game against Valley Mills today has been moved from 7:30 p.m. to 6. Every other area high school team that did not move its game to Thursday will play tonight as scheduled.
Belton’s cross country meet at Arlington’s Vandergriff Park and the Tigers’ team tennis quad match in Corsicana on Saturday have been canceled.
The Mary Hardin-Baylor men’s soccer games in Houston this weekend have been canceled. The Crusaders were scheduled to play at Houston Baptist on Saturday and St. Thomas on Sunday. Neither match will be rescheduled.
UMHB’s volleyball team had its schedule at the Southwestern University Tournament reduced to two matches instead of four. The Crusaders will face McMurry at 1:30 p.m. today and Huston-Tillotson at 4.
cmeister@temple-telegram.com
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