Jordan gets jolt from lightning, trip to Georgia

Lightning strikes have been following the Jordan football team this year — literally and maybe metaphorically too.

Ask Bingham about the latter.

But real thunder and lightning has directly interfered with three of the first five games the No. 1-ranked Beetdiggers have played this season. The last six minutes of the Northridge game was canceled due to lightning and on Aug. 31 when Jordan traveled to Valdosta, Ga., the entire game was postponed to the next morning because of lightning. Lightning bolts also struck in the distance when they played at Riverton last week, causing a short delay.

"We have had a lot of lightning this year," deadpanned coach Alex Jacobsen.

And moving the game to Saturday morning was a disadvantage to the boys from the Rocky Mountains.

"It made it tough on the kids," said Jacobsen, referring to having to play in the daytime when it was hotter and humid.

Nevertheless, the Beetdiggers fought valiantly but came up just short in a 23-21 battle with the home team. About a dozen parents made the trip and all agreed it was worth it notwithstanding weather problems.

"The people in Georgia are so hospitable," said Ted Carter, father of wide receiver Darren Carter. He also said that one administrator there said he had never seen a game postponed in 50 years.

Bruce Cook, grandfather of quarterback Chaun Cook, also pointed out the friendliness of the natives.

"They went out of their way to take care of us," he said. "They always spoke saying 'sir' and 'ma'am' and 'thank you.'"

Carter added, "They called the cheerleading coach from home to come back to the school to arrange for us to buy T-shirts and bumper stickers."

"We got to see some really neat stuff," said Jacobsen.

One event was affected by the lightning postponement. Instead of seeing a Braves baseball game, the team settled on going to the Georgia Dome and watching college football. Other activities mostly went off as planned.

"We visited an elementary school and participated in a reading program," said Jacobsen. "We visited the place where Coca Cola was invented and we saw the Martin Luther King Historical Museum."

Jacobsen continued, "On Sunday, those who wanted to go, visited a Baptist Church service."