Huntingdon-Camden cancelled due to wet field
Huntingdon’s football season was already starting a week later than most everyone else’s in the state of Tennessee.
The Mustangs will now start two weeks after everyone else after their game with Camden was officially cancelled Saturday afternoon.
“Our field doesn’t drain well at all, and it was soupy today,” said Huntingdon head coach Eric Swenson. “We were sinking when we stepped on it outside the hash marks and even some spots inside the hashes.”
Swenson, Camden head coach William Blow and administrators from both schools met at Paul Ward Stadium early Saturday afternoon to determine if the field was playable.
It wasn’t, according to the consensus decision among those who met.
“It’s not a region game, so it didn’t make much sense to put our teams out there and risk injury for a game we didn’t need to play,” Swenson said. “We’ve both had our problems with injuries the last couple years, so we both have the mindset to avoid that if we can.”
Camden opened its season last week at Waverly and lost 21-14. Huntingdon will officially begin its season next week at home against Region 6-1A opponent Collinwood.
“It’s definitely frustrating not to be able to play and to lose a big game like Camden where we expected a big crowd,” Swenson said. “Games like this are usually good for the program financially, and our band does concessions and I don’t think many people came into the stadium [Friday] before the game got postponed.
“So this isn’t good for us in that respect either.”
Swenson said they discussed other options like playing at Camden or somewhere else close.
“Moving the game to another field would’ve been a lot to deal with logistically without a lot of time to plan it and stuff,” Swenson said. “If we could’ve played at Bethel [University], that would’ve been perfect since they have turf that’s already lined off.
“But they open their season [Saturday night], so that was out. It was just best at this point to cut our losses and come back ready to go next week.”
Brandon Shields, 425-9751