Kent State football wasn't going to let a nearby field hockey game get in its way. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

In NCAA athletics, the prevailing belief is that football is king and everything else comes second. The Kent State athletic department did little to dispel that notion on Saturday.

A field hockey game between No. 24 Maine and Temple went into double overtime at 0-0 at Kent State’s Murphy-Mellis Field. According to Maine’s Twitter account, the Kent State administration then delivered some awkward news:

Well... that's a new one.



Today's game at @KentState has been declared a "no contest" after Kent State administration came onto the field prior to the second overtime half and called off the game to allow the noontime Kent football game to begin on time. — UMaine Field Hockey (@UMaineFH) September 7, 2019

Per Maine, the game will be classified as an exhibition and won’t affect either team’s stats or record.

Incredibly enough, Maine and Temple field hockey weren’t even playing on the same field as Kent State football. Murphy-Mellis Field is simply adjacent to Kent State’s Dix Stadium, but that was apparently too much of a hindrance for the football team.

The story got even more absurd when Maine field hockey player Riley Field claimed on Twitter that the reason Kent State called the game off was so it could launch fireworks at noon.

there was a plan for fireworks for an opening of the football game so they had us clear for safety purposes. fireworks were not meant to go off until 12 and it was 10:45 when we ended our first overtime. — Riley Field (@RileyField11) September 7, 2019

Maine will soon be back in action on Sunday, when it plays, surprise, Kent State. The Black Bears might have a chip on their shoulder for that one.

But at least Kent State was able to play its football game with no delays and all the fireworks it wanted.

The Golden Flashes eked out a 26-23 win over FCS Kennesaw State in a game that ... went into overtime. Good thing there wasn’t a nearby soccer game scheduled for 4 p.m. that day.

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