MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Schools in the Memphis area are delaying football games Friday night due to harsh weather conditions.

Making important decisions in these temperatures is something Lausanne Colligate School’s Head Athletic Trainer, Marty Scruggs, has been doing for decades. Right now, he’s monitoring conditions for the football, soccer and tennis teams.

“We deal with this every year,” he said. “We’ll come out each day, gage the temperature.”

Then make decisions on how they will move forward, like when they held practice early Wednesday morning.

“So 6 a.m. So we’ll get here earlier, get all the waters set up on the field,” Scruggs said.

There’s water stations set up as well as large fans. During games there’s also health care on standby and a cold water immersion tub.

“In case somebody does overheat, we can get them in a tank and cool them off pretty quickly,” Scruggs said.

Across the county, Millington Municipal Schools made the decision to delay Friday night’s big rivalry game against Munford by an hour. 

Vicki Bomar, Administrative Secretary at Millington Schools, told WREG that the annual M&M Bowl, between Millington Central High School and Munford High School, will start an hour later.

Kick-off was set to begin at 7 p.m. but has now been pushed back to 8 p.m. Gates will open at Millington Central High School’s Mooney Boswell Field at 7 p.m., and tickets are $10 at the gate.

“First and foremost is the safety and the health of our student athletes. Of course we go by the TSSAA heat index rule,” said Bo Griffin, superintendent of Millington Municipal Schools.

The superintendent said they’re looking out for all involved.

“It’s going to be a full crowd on both sides cheering. It’s also dangerous for our fans as well that’s why we’re not letting them in until 7 o’clock,” Griffin said.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Collierville Schools said they are also pushing back the kick-off time for the Collierville High School football game against Beech on Friday.

Gates will open at 6:15 p.m. at Dragon Stadium at the Landers SportsPlex. Kick-off is set for 7:30 p.m.

DeSoto County Schools is also making adjustments to keep student athletes safe during the dangerously high temperatures. District Athletics Director Anthony Jenkins told WREG some schools are holding practices early in the morning or later in the afternoon in an attempt to beat the heat.

Most schools in DeSoto County are also changing the start time for Friday’s game from 7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Game officials will also give athletes an additional heat time out per quarter during the games.