Bad weather put a damper on the first night of high school football for many Midlands teams.

Ten games were postponed from Friday night after heavy downpour of rain moved through the area. One of the games postponed was River Bluff at Chapin. The Gators were the playing for the first time since the death of sophomore Lewis Simpkins on Aug. 11.

Both teams wore decals honoring Simpkins, and the River Bluff team gathered for a prayer at midfield, pointing to the sky in honor of Simpkins before the rain came down. Pre-game ceremonies honoring Simpkins will be moved to Saturday. Also, Chapin’s Hall of Fame banquet scheduled for Saturday will go on as scheduled.

Other games postponed included Newberry at Keenan as Bulldogs coach Phil Strickland was going for win No. 300.

While most games will be made up Saturday, Ben Lippen’s game against Northwood won’t be. The Falcons led Northwood 13-0 midway through the first quarter and will be awarded the victory.

Dutch Fork’s game against Independence (NC) began after a two-hour rain delay. It was the first time Silver Foxes’ coach Tom Knotts faced his former team.

The schedule for the rain-affected games, all set to be played Saturday:

▪  Camden at Lugoff-Elgin, 7 p.m.

▪  Chester at Westwood, 10:30 a.m. (resumed from Friday start)

▪  Crestwood at Lower Richland, 11 a.m.

▪  Florence Christian at Cardinal Newman, 10 a.m. (Cardinal Newman leading 7-0)

▪  Gray Collegiate at Gilbert, 11 a.m.

▪  Lake Marion at Brookland-Cayce, 10 a.m.

▪  Newberry at Keenan, 11 a.m.

▪  Ridge Spring-Monetta at Batesburg-Leesville, 11 a.m.

▪  River Bluff at Chapin, 6 p.m.

▪  Rock Hill at Blythewood, 11 a.m.

This story was originally published August 19, 2016 at 8:56 PM with the headline "Weather postpones several Midlands football games to Saturday."