Waterloo running back Dalton Viglasky tosses the ball to a referee following his fourth quarter touchdown catch Monday night against Carbondale. For more photos from the game, click here. (Alan Dooley photo)

In a game that began Friday and ended Monday due to lightning and rain, the Waterloo High School football team dropped its home opener to Carbondale and lost its starting quarterback in a freak accident.

The Bulldogs, now 0-3, will try to right the ship this Friday night as it hosts Mascoutah to open Mississippi Valley Conference play. Mascoutah is 2-1, having lost its season opener to Columbia by one point.

Waterloo scored first on Friday, with Tyson Roedl scampering for a five-yard touchdown following a nine-yard run by Dalton Viglasky. The Bulldogs led 7-0 at 6:29 of the first quarter.

Carbondale tied it a few minutes later, however, on a 25-yard TD pass. The Terriers took a 13-7 lead on a 28-yard TD run at 4:59 of the second quarter.

The score remained 13-7 at halftime when officials called a lightning delay. It was later decided to postpone the contest and resume Monday night. 

During halftime, Waterloo senior quarterback Graham Baker slipped and fell while walking from the field to the locker room and broke his elbow. He was transported from the high school by Monroe County EMS.

With sophomore Ricky Smith serving as signal caller for the first time on Monday night, the Bulldogs weren’t able to muster much on offense until the fourth quarter.

“It’s hard when you’re a sophomore and get thrown into the fire like that,” Waterloo head coach Dan Rose told The Southern Illinoisan newspaper after the game.

Carbondale scored on a short TD run with 1:26 remaining in the third quarter to go up 19-7.

Smith recorded his first career TD pass with 5:50 remaining in the game. The 19-yard pass play to Viglasky cut Carbondale’s lead to 19-14.

The Terriers iced the game late, unfortunately, with a 30-yard TD pass play to make it a 25-14 outcome.

This is Waterloo’s first 0-3 start to the season since 2004.