Poor air quality forces push back for Tri-River Athletic Conference football opener
The Tri-River Athletic Conference opener between the Buchanan High and Clovis West football teams is pushed back for an hour because of bad air quality because of the wildfires at Sequoia National Park.
Kickoff was scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Stadium, but kickoff is now set for 8 p.m between the rival high schools.
As of 4:30 p.m., the air quality readings showed a 62 which is unhealthy, according to the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.
Buchanan athletic director James Gambrell said they will monitor every hour to check the readings.
He said the latest they can play if the bad air doesn’t improve is 9 p.m.
Buchanan has its homecoming.
Central is also monitoring the air quality readings and athletic director Ray Hightower said they’re good to go for the 6:30 p.m. kickoff at Koligian Stadium.
Hightower, however, said they were in the purple when readings came out at 10 a.m.. but the air improved by 12:30 p.m.
If remained in purple, they would re-evaluate its situation every hour.
Had the game been postponed, the game would have been played at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Clovis North athletic director Coby Lindsey tweeted that its game against Clovis East at Lamonica Stadium remains on scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
“Last air quality reading at 4pm, air getting better. Kickoff still at 6:30 will update after 5pm reading,” he tweeted.
Schools use different readings to check the latest air quality in the area where the game is being played.
Strathmore’s homecoming game against Woodlake is postponed and moved to 6:45 p.m. Monday.
This story was originally published October 1, 2021 at 5:40 PM.
