Wet and wild
Rain greets high-school season openers
The drought ended last week in Columbia County, and that wasn't because of the rain storms that swept through on Friday night.
Public high school football teams began regular season play, and local fans didn't mind getting wet to soak up some of the gridiron action.
In a premier matchup of county rivals, Greenbrier and Evans tangled in front of a packed house at the Brierpatch. The Knights couldn't weather the Wolfpack's barrage as Greenbrier posted a 43-26 victory.
"We knew we could win if we played as a team tonight," Pack linebacker David Barrett said after his squad broke open a close game with 29 points in the second half.
"Our defense just really stepped it up in the second half and played a heck of a ball game."
At Panther Stadium, Lakeside struggled in the soggy conditions during the season opener with Westside. The Panthers turned the ball over six times, and the powerful Patriots won 20-0 to put a damper on the debut of Lakeside head coach Randy Hill.
The Harlem Bulldogs kicked off the 2002 campaign at Aquinas, where the Dogs broke a drought of their own on Friday night. Harlem won its first season opener since 1989 by blanking the Irish 24-0.
In another Friday night road game featuring a Columbia County prep football team, the Augusta Christian School Lions gave Tattnall Square Academy a scare in Macon.
The Lions, playing their second game of the season, had the defending Georgia Independent Schools Association state champion on the ropes, but the Trojans scored late to edge AC 23-21.