By Whitney Denson

The Selma Times-Journal

Helena (3-0) and Dallas County (0-3) didn’t get to play a ton of football Friday night, but in the time they did play it was clear the Huskies were the much better team.

That’s why when lightning delayed the game for the second time in the second quarter and Helena leading 28-0, the coaches decided to call the game and declare it a final instead of suspending it for another day or waiting it out.

“Mainly, tonight, we want to keep our team, fans, and everyone out here safe with the lightning around,” said Dallas County head coach Marty Smith. “That’s our number one priority.”

Aside from the weather, Helena gave the Hornets all kinds of problems to worry about.

The Huskies scored on a 3-yard touchdown run by Devan Walker with six minutes left to play in the first quarter. In the second quarter the Helena special teams got into the mix, blocking a Dallas County punt and recovering inside the 10-yard line.

Walker did the rest, scoring again from 3-yards out to give the Huskies a 14-0 lead with 6:38 left in the first quarter.

The first lightning delay occurred soon after, sending each team into the locker room for over an hour.

Once the game resumed, Helena kept rolling. Nash Adams strolled in from 4-yards out to extend Helena’s lead to 21-0. Walker finished the scoring on Helena’s next drive with a 29-yard run to make it 28-0.

“Helena is a really good team, they stepped up,” said Dallas County head coach Marty Smith. “We’ve got to do better with our defense. They were a tough team, but we let them score too easily. It’s common sense that you have to have that defense to make it [work].”

The game was stopped again with 5:42 remaining in the second quarter and was called soon after, ending each team’s night early.

Helena had 171 total yards in the game, with most of those coming on the ground.

This was the ninth time Smith and head coach Watt Parker have coached against each other. Parker was proud of his team for its effort.

“I’m proud of both teams tonight, playing despite the interruptions and rain,” Parker said.

“Both of our quarterbacks stepped up tonight, and our defense is looking really good this year. It’s our second shutout in a row, and we’re just going to be getting ready to go up against Demopolis next week. You hate it when you have a game cut short, but everyone played really hard and I’m proud of them.”

Dallas County will travel to Sumter Central next week.