The fans and supporters of Poplarville High football have waited over 50 years to play a football game on the Hornets’ campus.

And now, they will have two wait another few weeks.

The administration of PHS made a decision Monday to delay opening the new on campus stadium until Friday, Sept. 21, and will play the season opener Friday in Dobie Holden Stadium on the campus of Pearl River Community College, the site the Hornets have always used.

“We are disappointed, but we felt like we had to make a decision early enough in the week and not make it a last minute decision,” PHS athletics director John Miller said. “Everything had to be just right and fall into place and we were working on a tight timeline, and it just didn’t work out.”

Kickoff between the Hornets and West Jones will be at 7:30 Friday night. After that game, the Hornets will play on the road for two weeks before returning home to christen the new stadium again Long Beach.

Miller said that the biggest problems included still not having lights and a fence around the stadium, in addition to smaller items like wiring for the public address system still having to be hooked up.

“Everybody involved worked as hard as they could, and there’s nobody to blame,” Miller added. “We just couldn’t work it out.”

Miller said the the school and the team will recognize PRCC on Friday during the game for its contributions over the year to the Hornet program.

“This was just the best thing to do at this time,” Miller said.