Rain and thunderstorms. Those two words perfectly describe the last two Friday nights of football in western Pennsylvania, especially Montour High School.

On August 30, Montour’s varsity football game at Moon was cut short midway through the second quarter, with Montour ahead 13-0 at the time. Due to inclement weather, the game was never made up. 

On September 6, it looked as if bad weather was on the way again, this time with Montour playing at Trinity. The rain and thunderstorms ended up holding off until the fourth quarter. 

A few other games in the WPIAL were delayed, but Montour was able to play all 60 minutes and earn a 14-7 victory.

“It felt good to play a full game,” Montour Head Coach Lou Cerro said after his team’s win.

It was no question that Montour was focused on playing a full game, even with storms in the area last Friday night.

“My AD friend and I talked earlier in the week,” Cerro said. “We agreed that since we only played a quarter and a half last week, we needed to play a full game if it was going to be lightning.” 

With numerous delays and suspended games throughout the last two weeks such as McGuffey vs West Allegheny, Mohawk vs Shenango, and Greensburg Central Catholic vs Apollo Ridge, that has raised a question. What does the WPIAL do when inclement weather forces games to be delayed or postponed? 

Scott Seltzer, Executive Director of the WPIAL, explained the protocol for weather delays, suspended games, no contests. 

“All the rules, such as lightning delays for high school athletics come from the National Federation of High Schools, and the PIAA adopts those rules,” Seltzer said. “When there’s one lightning strike, you have to wait 25 minutes. If there’s another strike, then the clock resets.” 

It turns out that the term “no contest” in the rain shortened games over the last two weeks was the incorrect term, according to Seltzer.

“No contest” wasn’t the right terminology. Those games were suspended, and it’s up to schools if they want to continue those games. If by the end of the season they didn’t make them up, they would be deemed no contest,” Seltzer said. 

Looking at this upcoming Friday, there is no precipitation in the forecast in Allegheny or Washington County, per the Weather app.