- March 25, 2026
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Braden River's offense was rolling on Friday night, before lightning hit and forced the Pirates' opponent, Clearwater High, to hit the high seas and skedaddle.
The Pirates led Clearwater 21-7 at the half, when the delay was announced. That was at approximately 8:40 p.m. Three hours later, the game was officially postponed until October (the exact date is still to be determined).
Clearwater scored on the game's first possession, a methodical drive that took nearly seven minutes off the clock, but Braden River answered the only way they know how: quickly. It took the Pirates less than a minute to reach the end zone. A 17-yard run from senior DeShaun Fenwick did the trick. Fenwick would later add a receiving touchdown on a 19-yard pass from junior quarterback Bryan Gagg. The ball was slightly under-thrown, but Fenwick came back to it and snagged it before it hit the ground.
Gagg was sharp all half, later hitting junior Knowledge McDaniel for the Pirates' third touchdown. His lone mistake was a second-quarter interception when trying to find Fenwick downfield.
The Pirate defense, tested last week against Chatfield High (Colo.), played with aggression after that first drive and forced Clearwater into mistakes. Senior linebacker Chase Knopf recovered a fumble in the first quarter.
Pirates coach Curt Bradley said he wanted to wait out the storm and finish the game that night, and the Pirates never took off their pads, but the Tornadoes disagreed. They initially signaled to the Pirates that they wanted to forfeit the game, then changed their minds. Eventually, the teams agreed on a suspension, but it caused confusion for fans and players alike during the delay.
"It's really disappointing, because we have been working hard all week," sophomore tight end Travis Tobey said of the postponement. "We look forward to every Friday night, performing in front of the home crowd, but we have to get through adversity like everyone else.
"We were ready to play, and I guess they weren't."
