Those 6D North Region-tournament semifinal playoff games held the evening of Nov. 18 brought the unfortunate end to Friday night high-school football games until next fall.
That ending always brings kind of a sad time for many.
The remainder of the region and state public-school football playoff games were, and will, take place, or at least start, during the daylight hours on Saturday afternoons.
So there will be no more Friday night lights, at least for high-school football the heat of 2023. There certainly will be many other high-school sports – like soccer, lacrosse and track and field – played under the lights of Friday evening on those rectangular football fields come the 2023 outdoor spring season. Night baseball and softball action also occurs on some Friday nights on different fields.
But none of those contests quite compare to the all-out extravaganza and craziness of high-school football, with the marching bands, cheerleaders, halftime performances and often large crowds.
These days, high-school football now begins with games during the intense summer heat of August, sometimes with thunderstorms looming. Then it concludes in the chill and cold of the fall evenings during November and or early December for those teams that advance into the state playoffs.
Remember the closing scene of that great high-school football movie “Friday Night Lights,” when three graduating seniors from that state-runner-up Permian Panthers team in Texas were leaving their home field for the last time with the season over, and talked about what they will miss about the sport.
“I’m gonna miss the heat,” one said. “I am going to miss the lights,”added another. “Yeah. Me, too,” said the third player.
Indeed.
Until next fall.