BURGETTSTOWN (KDKA) — Tonight is the kickoff for high school football in western Pennsylvania, but the stadium will be dark in one Washington County community.

They won’t be playing Friday or Saturday night football in Burgettstown because of a recall by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The recall was because the 2,000-pound poles that hold the lights tended to fall over in strong winds. One fell over in Uniontown.

Gateway and Big Beaver also have the poles, but Burgettstown is the only one of those teams to not have night games this fall.

They’ve been playing night games in Burgettstown since the 1940s.

It will mean a loss of revenue for the school and for area businesses.

The players, though disappointed, are trying to think positively.

“It is disappointing but at the same time it’s an advantage for us because we’ll have a five day work week at practice and everything and every other team won’t be used to playing on Saturdays and we will,” John Dugas said.

Hopefully they’ll have lights next year. Unfortunately, the pole company went bankrupt so the school will have to raise the money on their own.

In this case, it will cost about $100,000.

The school is making a letter-writing appeal to alumni.

“And a lot of them have already voiced some support, so we’ll see when the letters are written how much support we can get from them,” Jon Vallina, athletic director, said.

In the meantime, Blue Devils fans will have to settle for daylight football.

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