PREP FOOTBALL
Weather dominates opening night of prep football 鈥� some games played, some delayed
Lightning delays led to one of three Albuquerque-area games getting pushed to Saturday
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Mother Nature was the dominant player Thursday night as the 2026 high school football season opened in the metro area.
All three games in Albuquerque were impacted by a consistent thunderstorm and regular lightning strikes.
The West Mesa-St. Pius contest at Nusenda Community Stadium was postponed outright until 11 a.m. Saturday.
The Highland-Rio Grande game at Milne got started around 9 p.m. 鈥� a game could not be pushed back to Saturday 鈥� when all three city venues are open 鈥� because Highland also plays Thursday of next week and the shortened week wouldn鈥檛 work. In the late-starting Highland-Rio Grande game, officials audibled to playing the game with just 10 minute quarters and a 10-minute halftime.
The Cibola-Sandia game at Wilson Stadium kicked off at 8:45 p.m. after lengthy conversations between the game officials, athletic directors from both schools and Albuquerque Public Schools officials. Sandia scored 14 points in the first 3 陆 minutes.
Check online later for more updates on games that were played and for full coverage Friday night of the first full night of high school football in New Mexico for the season.
