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Independence High's road football game against Florida power Madison County on Friday has been cancelled because of potential bad weather from Tropical Storm Hanna.
Patriots coach Tom Knotts said he was told by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools officials that they didn't want Independence traveling in unstable conditions.
“I'm upset, I told them there's more than one way to get to Tallahassee,” Knotts said. “They said we'd be traveling through (storms).”
Independence Principal Mark Bosco, in consultation with Dr. Nancy Bartles, the area superintendent for the East Learning Community, cancelled the trip after monitoring weather reports.
Madison County is about 45 miles east of Tallahassee. The Cowboys are Florida's reigning 2A champion.
Independence was scheduled to leave by bus on Thursday morning, and return Saturday.
The National Hurricane Center predicts a landfall for Hanna around midday Friday, somewhere along the central South Carolina coast.
It would have been the second straight season with an out-of-state trip for Independence, which won seven straight N.C. championships before losing in last season's N.C. 4AA final. The Patriots' 109-game winning streak was snapped by Elder (Ohio) High in Cincinnati last September.
“I obviously wanted to go play, even if we had to move the game to Saturday, and have a short week (preparing for West Charlotte) after that,” Knotts said. “They've got some great players there. Not the numbers of a large team, but a lot of talent. They're comparable to Shelby. We were really looking forward to it.”
Madison County coach Frank Carroll said he was agreeable to postponing the game a day or two.
“Saturday, Sunday, we don't mind,” he said. “We just want to play somebody. We're a little ‘ol town and our folks have been looking forward to this game a long time.”
