CHICAGO -- It was a night of quick strikes at Deaton Memorial Field on the campus of Saint Xavier University Thursday night.

Three long touchdowns were scored in the first two minutes and seven seconds play of this rivalry -- two by Saint Xavier and one by St. Francis. But the strikes that counted the most were the ones that came from the sky in the form of lightning that first delayed the game with 5:55 left in the first quarter and eventually postponed resumption of the contest until Saturday at 6 p.m. with Saint Xavier holding a 14-7 lead.

The first bolt of lightning was spotted by one of the officials working in front of the St. Francis bench at approximately 7:25 p.m. The officials then huddled and sent the teams to the locker room and followed procedures that called for waiting thirty minutes from the last lightning strike before play would be resumed.

But the lighting would continue and finally, at about 8:40 p.m., the officials met with the two head coaches and the schools' athletics directors and decided to postpone the game.

While the fans left disappointed that they were not able to see a full game, they could not be complaining about what they saw in the half hour of football that was played.

Saint Xavier took the opening kickoff back to its own 43-yard line and nearly broke it for a longer return. The USF defense forced the Cougars into a third-and-10 situation on the 43. SXU not only converted on the first down but got the game's first score when senior quarterback Anthony Kropp found Wes Gastel over the middle just beyond the first down marker. Gastel then broke a pair of attempted USF tackles and scampered all the way to the end zone for a 57-yard touchdown.

USF, though, came right back with a quick three-play scoring drive of its own.

Following a 2-yard run by sophomore running back Connor Krisch, freshman quarterback E.J. White got the Saints their initial first down on a 16-yard completion to junior wide receiver Sean Hughes. White then electrified the crowd with a quarterback keeper that saw him ramble 64-yards nearly untouched for the game-tying touchdown.

Before the fans could catch their breath after watching those two big plays, the Cougars were back in the lead again.

SXU senior wide receiver Mike Maher took the ensuing kickoff at his own 15-yard line, spun around a couple of times to avoid would be tacklers, found a seam and raced 85 yards for the game's third touchdown in just 127 seconds of play.

Each team had one more possession -- with USF driving 34 yards into Cougar territory before punting and SXU covering 45 yards before fumbling the ball back to USF near midfield -- before the lightning started and the waiting game began.

The game will resume with USF facing a 2^nd-and-12 at the SXU 47-yard line and 5:55 left in the first quarter of play.

Action will start at 6 p.m. Saturday at Deaton Field and admission will be free.