Summer heat to force changes to Friday’s high school football schedule in Charlotte

Steve Lyttle, Langston Wertz Jr.
·2 min read
2

Some of the hottest weather so far this summer is forecast for Friday, and local athletics officials are responding by adjusting kickoff times for some of the area’s high school football games that night.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, among others, have delayed kickoff for Friday night games by up to one hour — from 7 to 8 p.m.

National Weather Service meteorologist Justin Lane said it looks as if “we’ll have to plow through one of the hottest days of the year on Friday, when upper 90s are expected to be common across the Piedmont.”

The forecast high Friday in Charlotte is 98 degrees. The hottest temperature so far this summer in Charlotte was 96, on Aug. 14.

In addition to the heat, forecasters say humidity levels will be high enough to create heat indices — the combined impact of heat and humidity — of up to 105 degrees.

More than a dozen games at CMS sites are affected by the change:

▪ Benedictine (GA) at Chambers

▪ Buford (GA) at Mallard Creek

▪ East Mecklenburg at Palisades

▪ Garinger at Berry Academy

▪ Hickory RIdge vs. Independence at Rocky River

▪ Hough at Myers Park

▪ Marvin Ridge at Hopewell

▪ Monroe at West Charlotte

▪ Olympic at North Mecklenburg

▪ Richmond Senior at Butler

▪ Rocky River at West Mecklenburg

▪ South Mecklenburg at Providence

▪ Weddington at Ardrey Kell

Kickoff changes outside CMS

In addition, several, not involving CMS schools, have been rescheduled to 8 p.m.:

▪ Crest at Burns

▪ Central Cabarrus at Piedmont

▪ Central Davidson at Cuthbertson

▪ Central Pageland at Parkwood

▪ Concord at Mount Pleasant

▪ Jay M. Robinson at West Cabarrus

▪ Kings Mountain at Cox Mill

▪ Northwest Cabarrus at AL Brown

▪ North Rowan at Forest Hills

▪ Union Academy at Christ The King

▪ York at Nation Ford

North Carolina schools aren’t alone in taking this action. School systems in several states across the South announced Monday that they were delaying kickoffs until 8 p.m. local time.