Although the Friday night lights went out on them at Heroes Stadium on Friday, Johnson and Judson plan to use the quarter and half they managed to play to good use.
That's all they can do after their season opener was canceled when a storm rolled through in the middle of the second quarter. It began with a lightning delay at 8:10 p.m., followed by strong winds and pouring rain before the electricity went out about an hour later.
The lights were still out at 9:30 p.m. when the game was called. The non-district game won't be completed. Although Johnson led 7-0 when the game was stopped, it doesn't count as a result because it didn't go a full half.
This wasn't exactly the way Vernon Hughes envisioned his highly anticipated coaching debut at Judson to be. Hughes is tasked with restoring the glory of Judson football, which hasn't had a winning record in five seasons, tied with the longest stretch in program history.
Hughes is making the most of the unusual situation.
"Well, to us, we kind of see it as a third scrimmage," said Hughes, who coached at Mesquite Horn for one season before heading to Judson. "Our ones (starters) got to see some high-level competition, and we competed with those guys."
Johnson, the Express-News' top-ranked area team, had just taken a 7-0 lead with 6:06 in the second quarter after receiver Bryson Thompson scored on a 1-yard run out of the wildcat formation. The Jaguars didn't get to line up for the kickoff before the game was delayed and ultimately canceled.
"You can always spin things into a positive, and that positive is you can always learn from a quarter," Johnson coach TP Miller said. "You can learn from situational football. There's a lot of situations that took place in the first quarter and the second quarter - offensively, defensively, special teams. We have to do a better job as a staff to control what we can control, and that's what we are going to do."
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Friday's meeting offered a glimpse of a few things. Judson ran a solid tempo offense that had Johnson on its heels. However, the Rockets came up empty on their two possessions - the first went 12 plays and the second went 18 plays. Well-timed sacks put the Rockets behind the sticks.
"We get to clean some things up and go into next week with some confidence, knowing that if we do things right, that we can play at that level," said Hughes, whose Rockets host Hutto on Friday.
Judson senior running back Kayden Graham ran with power with seven rushes for 23 yards and showed off skillful hands from the backfield with four receptions for 32 yards. Junior quarterback Joseph Dimando got the ball out quickly as the Jaguars applied heavy pressure in long yardage situations. He completed 13 of 21 passes for 70 yards.
"When you open up against a team like Johnson, you want to see where you are at," Hughes said. "No one expected us to come in and even compete with these guys. As far as a ranking, I'm not really worried about that. My focus is on us and trying to make sure we prepare our guys to play at a high level."
Pouring rain falls over Heroes Stadium as a storm stopped the Judson versus Johnson varsity football game in San Antonio, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. The game was later canceled due to the severe storm and flood warning. (Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News)Meanwhile, Johnson unveiled another offensive weapon to add to its talented arsenal in senior running back Noah Cartwright, who rushed for 80 yards on seven carries. A rushing threat like that will be good support for third-year senior starting quarterback Elvis Estrada, sophomore receiver Braelyn Allen, a rising national college recruit, and Thompson, who is committed to Iowa State.
Miller said it was good to get that kind of work against a team like Judson.
"The quality of opponent means everything," Miller said. "They have a new staff, new energy. Their staff does a great job and for us as a Johnson football team, we have to make sure we look at that first quarter and a half of play and any conscious mistakes that we made and move forward."
SubscribeThere’s more to San Antonio with the Express-News. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at Johnson, Judson plan to make the most from Friday's canceled football game.
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