Area athletic events put on hold until Matthew passes

With all area schools closed to accommodate the evacuation ahead of Hurricane Matthew, all athletic events in Beaufort and Jasper counties likewise were placed in a holding pattern until further notice.

The list of postponements features 10 football games, including at least three scheduled as homecoming contests. Hilton Head Christian already has announced its non-region visit to Laurence Manning will not be made up.

“We’ll certainly do everything we can to reschedule our homecoming football game,” said John Paul II athletics director Matt Dakolios, whose game was set for Thursday night against Christian Academy of Myrtle Beach.

“But at the end of the day, the important thing is making sure everybody’s safe and has enough time to get out. This is obviously bigger than our tropical storm that we got earlier.”

Tropical Storm Hermine played havoc with the Labor Day weekend schedule, pushing most football games to a Saturday kickoff and JP2 to a Monday contest. Beaufort Academy and Thomas Heyward wound up canceling their games.

The High School League, meantime, has pushed back this weekend’s state swimming championships in Columbia to Oct. 14-15.

USC Beaufort also canceled all athletic activities, home and road, through the weekend. The cross country team withdrew from a meet in Aiken, while women’s soccer had a home match set for Friday and a weekend trip to Webber International in Florida.

Sea Pines Resort had to postpone the grand opening of its Atlantic Dunes course, the Love Design layout built over the original Ocean course routing. Davis Love III, fresh off leading the United States to its first Ryder Cup victory since 2008, was the featured guest.

This story was originally published October 4, 2016 at 6:11 PM with the headline "Area athletic events put on hold until Matthew passes."