When the first quarter of Morgan Academy’s game against Monroe Academy came to an end Friday night, Senators head coach Jake Wingo thought his team had the Volunteers where they wanted them.

And then Mother Nature took control of the game.

It was fourth-and-12 for the Volunteers, who were about to punt for the first time of the season, but that didn’t happen.

A bolt of lightning lit up the sky and thunder rumbled the stands starting what would be a two-hour delay followed by officials postponing the game until Saturday at 5 p.m.

“It is a good reminder that God is in control when you really look at things,” Wingo said. “I was telling the guys control what you can control. We can’t control this, and I think it is a blessing really. We get to come back and get our guys back together and come back and compete tomorrow.”

Both teams tried to wait it out, but after several delays, the game was finally postponed around 9:30 p.m.

Morgan Academy Headmaster Pete Williamson said the decision was made because of safety.

“Lightning just keeps popping up and showers are moving in again from the south, and we just decided we don’t want to put our young people or our fans in jeopardy,” Williamson said.

Monroe was up 14-0 when the thunderstorm rolled through, emptying the field and stands.

“I thought we had two good drives, and everything was going pretty good,” said Monroe head coach Mitchell Turberville. ”You hate to stop it because of momentum.”

Monroe scored first on a 1-yard run from Dalton McKenzie. The Vols’ defense then forced Morgan to punt, which set up their second scoring drive of the night. The drive looked to stall after a holding penalty, but quarterback Cole Griffin would make Morgan’s defense pay on a 90-yard QB-keeper.

“It was just a quarterback draw and Griffin is just a really good runner. He just had a huge lane to run in, and he’s fast. We just got lucky on that one,” Turberville said.

Wingo, who feels like the game being moved to Saturday will favor his team, said if the Senators want to get back in the game, their defense has to stop the run.

“They’re very big and physical up front, and that is what they’re going to do tomorrow,” Wingo said. “They’re going to make us stop them from running the ball, so that is the number one thing. Offensively we’ve seen some things where me might can take advantage of their defense, so we’re excited to see what we can do tomorrow.”

When the Senators and Volunteers take the field again, Wingo is hoping his team will be regrouped and ready to get back in the game.

“They had the momentum, and we stopped them on that last drive and had a good defensive series,” Wingo said. “They’re punting tomorrow at the start of the second quarter, and we get the football, so we’ll see what we can do.”