The Central and duPont Manual football teams finally kicked off at Central Stadium shortly after 5:30 p.m. on Sunday evening after two days of delay.

Despite an original scheduled time of 7:30 p.m. on Friday night, game officials postponed until Saturday due to an impending thunderstorm. Officials again rescheduled the game after there was another large wave of heat lightning on Saturday.

According to Head Coach Oliver Lucas (Science), the long delay did not affect Manual’s performance.

“We have a rule that we will play anytime, anywhere. That is our team’s mentality,” Lucas said. “Whenever you call on us to play, we are going to respond. Our kids did respond, and that is the sign of a good team.”

Manual started off quickly and scored touchdowns on their first two drives, as quarterback Tim Comstock (11, #3) found receiver Jake Rist (12, #7)  for 31 yards, and Michael Nero (12, #27) broke two tackles in the backfield during a 55 yard touchdown run. Manual never looked back and went on to win the game in blowout fashion, 41-7.

According to Coach Lucas, Comstock was able to effectively manage the game and make plays during his first start as the Manual quarterback.

“We stayed focused, and we came out just as strong as we would have come out any other day,” said offensive linemen Hayden Vinegar (12, #55).”Still, we don’t get big heads. We just stay focused all the time. Every game is a new game, and we have to do it day by day.”

Manual will face Fern Creek for the home opener, at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 29 at Manual Stadium.