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(NewsDakota.com)- The start of the Tim Fletcher era got off to an interesting start on Friday night when the game was postponed due to lightning. Jamestown was forced to go back to Devils Lake on Saturday afternoon tor resume the game and came out on the wrong end of a 22-19 score. 

Jays were leading 7-0 when lighting struck on Friday night, but it was the arm of Nate Mertens that struck lighting first on Saturday. The teams traded possessions before Mertens hit his TE Chase Anderson on a 33-yard scoring strike down the seam without a defender in the same area code.

Just two minutes later, they found the end zone again on a 53-yard screen pass from Mertens to Austin Schall. They took a 15-7 lead with just over a minute left in the opening half.

Jamestown got the ball back with 58 seconds left and aided by a 45-yard catch and run from Matt Grounds to C.J. Soulis it set the Blue Jays up in the red zone. Three plays later with the clock winding down Grounds hit Sean Lindberg for an 11-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion failed and Devils Lake took a 15-13 lead into the break.

The Blue Jays scored first in the second half to regain the lead on a 10-yard touchdown run from Taylor Orr. The Jamestown defense stiffened in the second half turning the Firebirds away in the redzone on two occasions.

Devils Lake took the lead back late in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run by Schall, 22-19. Jamestown had one last chance to take control, but the game ended when Grounds was intercepted by Mertens.

The Jays will return to Ernie Gates Field on Friday night to host Grand Forks Red River. The game will kick-off at 7pm. The game will be broadcast on KQDJ-AM 1400 and streamed on NewsDakota.com