YOUR AD HERE »

Incline football | With no refs, home opener postponed

Sylas Wright
swright@sierrasun.com

Players were warmed up and ready. Fans were in their seats.

Five weeks into the 2013 football season, Incline was finally ready to kick off its home opener against ROP on Friday.

But there was one glaring problem. The men in black and white were nowhere to be found.



After about a 45-minute delay, the inevitable announcement sounded over Highlander Stadium: The game was canceled (actually postponed to a later date).

“We were all revved up and ready to go,” said Incline coach Scott Conn. “We had our new unis on for the first time. Talk about letting the air out of the balloon.”



According to a letter by Incline High Principal Leslie Hermann explaining the snafu, the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association’s football commissioner “made an error and did not schedule any officials” for the game. Hermann said Incline fulfilled its obligation, as the school submitted its football schedule in March.

“Although this error was not of our own doing, we will do everything we can in the future to double-check and make absolutely certain that we have officials at each game,” Hermann wrote.

“We wish to apologize to the students, the Boosters and members of the community who had high hopes for a great opening night!”

The game has since been rescheduled for Thursday, Oct. 17, which means the Highlanders will have to cancel their Oct. 19 nonleague game at North Tahoe.

That will mark the second cancellation of the season, as Incline’s opening game in San Andreas, Calif., was called off due to unhealthy air quality caused by the Rim fire in Yosemite.

“I feel real bad for the community,” Conn said of Friday’s non game. “The place was packed. It was a tremendous letdown.”

The Highlanders, who remain 1-1 overall and 1-0 in Northern Division III play, will try again this Friday when Yerington comes to town for Incline’s homecoming. Kickoff is 6 p.m.


Support Local Journalism

 

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Lake Tahoe, Truckee, and beyond make the Sierra Sun's work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Your donation will help us continue to cover COVID-19 and our other vital local news.