By Stephen Dawkins

Lightning struck twice last week—albeit in different locations.

Jemison’s and Thorsby’s preseason jamboree games on Aug. 21 were interrupted by inclement weather, leaving the teams with some unanswered questions heading into the their first real games of the season.

Jemison hosted Marbury and led the game, 18-14, at the end of three quarters, which was how long the varsity squads played before turning things over to the B-teams.

“I was happy with the effort,” Jemison coach Brad Abbott said and added that the only negative to come out of the game was an injury to sophomore lineman Jackson Mims. “That was good for us, especially the defense, to see some live action. We saw some depth in some spots, and that’s important for us.”

The game was stopped with 1:29 remaining in the first half because of lightning in the area. The teams resumed after a brief delay but didn’t play a full third quarter.

Javae Swindle scored one touchdown for the Panthers on a 20-yard run, and the other two touchdowns were both courtesy of David King. Each of King’s scoring runs were from about 3 yards out.

Jemison will play its first game of the season Thursday, when rival Chilton County High visits. The Panthers won last year, 28-21, on a touchdown pass with less than one minute remaining in the game.

Thorsby prepared for its opener, at home Friday against Verbena, by visiting West Blocton for a jamboree—but the game didn’t go as planned.

The B-teams played for the first half, but the stadium’s lights went out shortly after the varsity squads began the second half. Lightning then became an issue, so the game was shortened.

“We never really got a good idea of what we could do,” Thorsby coach Billy Jackson said. “The best thing was nobody was injured.

“We did get a better idea of what it is going to be like full speed, so that was good.”

The Rebels varsity trailed their hosts 13-0, when the game concluded.