Football kickoffs at 7:30 to cope with heat

Athletic directors at the two county high schools say that due to the high temperatures and high humidity this summer the Mississippi High School Activities Assn. has issued a mandate that schools under its jurisdiction will postpone kickoff at high school football games for a half hour for the first two months of the season.
Coach Chris McCallum at Salem and Coach Jason Johnson at Tylertown say MHSAA ruled last week that all high school football games played in August and September this season will start at 7:30 p.m. Both teams will revert to normal 7 p.m. kickoff times beginning with the Friday, Oct. 7 game for the remainder of the season.
The half hour delay over the first two months should not only help players cope with heat stress issues, but make things a tad cooler for spectators, until temperatures begin to fall during the latter part of the season.