Thomas Jefferson-Armstrong football suspended in the third quarter. What happened?

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Thomas Jefferson and Armstrong football asked the brave question Thursday afternoon.

Without lights, can you still finish a high school football game despite needing 90 minutes to complete the first half, a lightning delay and a late start? Can you beat the sun?

The answer: no, no you can't. But man, did they try.

Teejay-Armstrong, highly anticipated game this week in the area, was supposed to kick off at 4:45 p.m. Thursday. At 7:21 p.m., the game was suspended, with 8:25 to go in the third quarter and will resume at 6 p.m. Monday.

So, just what happened?

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First, some context: emotions are often high when the Vikings and Wildcats clash. The matchup between these inner-city rivals historically is intense but in recent years, with both programs having success, it's become a spectacle for the City of Richmond.

Dating to 1970, this rivalry takes place almost every year and minus the COVID-19 spring season, the teams have played every season since 2004. Overall, Armstrong leads the series 23-21.

The game also represents football in and around the City of Richmond. Teejay coach Eric Harris is a Virginia Union alum and coach Jeremy Pruitt with Armstrong is a grad of Virginia State. Their respective team colors match those of the alma mater's and around the stadium, there was VUU and VSU gear abound.

So, naturally the kids feel they are playing for something bigger during the game and when these two clash; just throw out the records. Both want to win and will do what it takes to get that done.

But, compared to recent years, this one went differently. Why?

Well first, kickoff did not happen at 4:45 p.m. Armstrong's bus arrived at Teejay around 4:35 p.m. The team came off the bus fully dressed, but still had a warm up. The coin toss didn't happen until right before 5 p.m. and kickoff was a few minutes after.

Between the coin toss and kick off, there was a brief delay for both teams to take the field. Armstrong sprayed a blue haze to run through on the way to its bench. Teejay created a similar affect with fire extinguishers as its players came out.

The Vikings had the ball first and ran about four minutes off the clock until the drive stalled and were forced to punt. Armstrong's Ronald Jackson blocked the punt and returned it to the end zone for the first score of the game.

After that, Teejay pieced together a 13-play drive, spanning six minutes and 25 seconds to tie the game. Running back Daeron Ferguson, a transfer from Highland Springs, ran it in from 11-yards out. It was 7-7 at the end of the first.

But during those long drives were penalties -- false starts and unsportsmanlike conduct, among others -- and the quarter didn't end until 5:42 p.m. Those yellow flags flew early and often.

From there, the second quarter went just as long and was dominated by Armstrong. In that frame, the Wildcats found the end zone twice, first a 22-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Hansom to Keyvon McCloud with nine minutes to go in the second. Then, with 2:08 to go in the half, Hansom ran it in himself, putting his Wildcats up 21-7. Teejay made a push before half but came up short.

Halftime began at 6:21 p.m.

Now maybe that's fine for some high school stadiums but at Teejay, that left about an hour of sunlight to work with since the stadium doesn't have lights.

Plus, mother nature was in a mood. As the teams came out after halftime, dark clouds started rolling in. As Teejay kicked it off to Armstrong in the third quarter, the rain started. These kids can play through rain, but then the lightning inched closer and closer, and closer.

At 6:40, the lightning delay started. Most left the stadium, others hung around the big tree on Teejay's side. It was around then a few web browsers were opened on various phones, all searching the same thing:

What time does the sun set? That would be 7:34 p.m.

Around 7:10, in a surprise to some, both teams returned to warm up. But around 7:20 Harris told the Times-Dispatch that the game would resume Monday, at Teejay, at 6 p.m. So almost three hours after the original start time, the game was suspended, with 8:25 to go in the third quarter.

Teejay had the ball when the delay started. As a result, both teams have film on each other heading into Monday, with plenty of time on the clock.

So now, for the first time in 55 years, this rivalry game will be played on two separate days. Three times in the history between the two has the game been postponed but not split almost in half between multiple days.

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Savannah Reger

(804) 649-6772

sreger@timesdispatch.com

@SavannahReger17 on X

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Savannah Reger

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