Football fans, teams welcome sunny forecast

Central head football coach Brent Palmer is looking forward to Friday night football this week not only because the Wildcats are in the state playoffs for the first time but because the weather forecast calls for clear skies.

"This season has definitely been an experience as far as the rain goes," Palmer said. "In all my years of coaching, I have never seen a season where it rained this much. Usually you might have one or two games where the field is muddy, but this year we have played in the mud every game except one."

More than 15 inches of rain have been recorded at the Northwest Alabama Regional Airport in Muscle Shoals since prep football season began in August. Some communities in northwest Alabama and southern Tennessee have received more than 20 inches of rain during the high school football season.

Palmer said the muddy conditions and rain have taken a toll on the Wildcats' football field, equipment and facilities.

"The mud has really been tough on the players' shoes. We've had a lot of cleats falling apart and soles falling off shoes from staying wet for so long," he said. "One of the players told me he rigged up a device at home where he can use a blow dryer to dry his football shoes."

The dreary weather also has hit the Wildcats hard in their game revenue.

"When we played East Lawrence, we were both playing really good and we were expecting a big crowd," he said. "But it rained that night and the game didn't get started until 9:30. We should have had an $8,000 gate but wound up with a $2,500 gate."

With less revenue from ticket sales, Palmer said the Wildcats will likely have to forego some equipment purchases for the upcoming season.

"We rely on the money from attendance at our games to run our program. When attendance is down, so is the money for our football program."

Collinwood (Tenn.) head coach Michael Statom said the Trojans' budget also has taken a hit this season.

"We don't receive any subsidies from our board of eduction for running our football program," Statom said. "When we have fewer people showing up for our games like they have this year because they didn't want to sit in the rain, we have less money going into our football program."

Statom said the football field at Collinwood will need costly repairs after excessive rains. The Trojans' white jerseys that are used for road games will need to be replaced before next season because of stains left from playing in the mud this fall.

"I've never seen a season where we played in the mud as much as we have this year," Statom said. "The first two or three games, the players thought it was fun and really enjoyed it. It got to the point, though, that they were no longer enjoying sliding around in the mud. We are all glad to see all the sunshine we are having this week and to be playing on a dry field Friday."

Veteran radio announcer Greg Thornton, the voice of the Florence Falcons, said this has been the wettest football season he can recall. "I've never experienced a season like this."

The rainy weather has forced many football games to be played Thursday or Saturday.

Lee Davis, president of the Muscle Shoals Athletic Boosters, said by switching days for several of their games, the Trojans have avoided having to play in the rain. They were unable to avoid playing on a muddy field at times.

"We're probably the luckiest team in north Alabama. We've had to play in the mud, but we haven't had to play in the rain. Hopefully our luck will continue through the playoffs."

Dennis Sherer can be reached at 740-5746 or dennis.sherer@TimesDaily.com.