Earlier this week, the aftermath of Hurricane Frances pushed back home openers for Citrus and Lecanto to Saturday night.
Thursday, the possibility of Hurricane Ivan eliminated them entirely, as the school district canceled activities for the remainder of the week.
The Springstead at Citrus and Central at Lecanto games now are just two more casualties of a lost week in area academics and athletics.
"I would have liked to play," Citrus coach Rik Haines said. "It would have been a nice rallying point for the community, but we've got to be safe. (If) Ivan's coming, our school's a shelter."
Crystal River's game at Dunnellon was canceled earlier in the week by the Marion County school system.
All three county teams, however, were allowed to practice Thursday despite school being out.
It was a welcome respite in a week of cleaning up and, for some players and coaches, waiting for power to be restored at home.
"We didn't have great concentration, (but) we had a pretty good (practice)," Haines said. "We tried to correct some things.
"Kids are very adaptable and resourceful and resilient, all those good words, coaches are too," he said. "We just turn ourselves to next week's game."
All games this week were non-district contests, meaning they have no direct effect on playoff races. That, plus the fact that district play starts for most teams next week, leads coaches to believe the games may not be made up.
"I don't see either set of games being made up at this point, unless you're talking about a situation where you play three (games) in a two-week period," Springstead coach Bill Vonada said.
"To me, that's kind of dangerous. I know teams have done it in the past, but I just don't think it's worth it."
In Hernando County, Hernando and Nature Coast Tech will proceed with home games tonight and Hernando Christian plays at Indian Rocks Christian. The county's other two public schools were at the mercy of the host Citrus schools, which opted on the side of caution given Ivan's projected track toward west central Florida.
"The guys are disappointed," Central coach John Wilkinson said. "You prepare all summer for this and prepare all fall. You want to play a game. I've never seen anything like this before."
That thought can apply to everything, from the scheduling to the ever-changing skies.
"Who knows. They have a mind of their own, I guess," Vonada said. "Probably a lot like tackling Barry Sanders."
- Times staff writers Frank Pastor and Emily Nipps contributed to this report.
