With a navy blue beanie covering his head and a gold-colored windbreaker shielding his hoodie, Eric Christy peered into the sky at Erie Veterans Memorial Stadium.

On a mid-November night in 2021, the Butler football coach and his team were aiming to secure a District 10 Class 6A crown against McDowell. The blustery conditions matched the circumstances.

“I remember sitting on the field and there was ice spitting down,” Christy said. “I think most people were upset at it and I was just loving every second of it. I remember looking up as it was blowing in and just being like, ‘This is what it’s meant to be.’”

Depending on the outcome, wintry weather is one of the rewards — or drawbacks — of playing late enough into a gridiron schedule.

“You feel everything just a little bit more in the cold,” Christy said. “I think it probably benefits the defense more than the offense. As a coach, I always love having them. To me, those are the ones you make memories in.”

The Golden Tornado lost the aforementioned title matchup with the climate playing a big part. Butler had to adjust schematically and totaled seven turnovers in the 40-21 defeat.

“Much of the game was played as a combination of snow, sleet and rain fell from the sky,” the Butler Eagle reported. “The turf was covered by a sheet of sleet for much of the first half.

Two weeks later, coach Joe Sherwin and Karns City played Farrell in a PIAA Class 2A quarterfinal. A snow squall blanketed the turf at Diehl Stadium just hours before the contest got underway.

“I think the conditions make it that much more exciting, I think for the players,” Sherwin said. “I think our guys were really pumped up to be able to go out and play in the snow. ... That game really sticks out in my mind.”

Less-than-ideal circumstances lend themselves to a sort of enchanting scene. Mars coach Eric Kasperowicz recalls a PIAA Class 6A championship tilt with St. Joseph’s in December 2017. He said four or five inches of snow laid on the playing surface, with the field lines uncovered by plows.

He remembers picturesque, snow-covered pine trees overlooking the Hershey stadium.

“It was a pretty cool atmosphere that will live in my memory forever,” said Kasperowicz, who was in charge at Pine-Richland at that time. “You don’t want too much, because then it handicaps the game a little bit and people don’t have their footing and all that stuff — and you hate for that to happen.”

Ball security, stability, and a stress on fundamentals are of the utmost importance.

“We kind of switched out before the (Farrell) game,” Sherwin said. “Our guys were used to the turf field ... but we had to go to some longer cleats. I think having the right cleats and so forth for that type of game is important, as well.”

For that particular clash, the Gremlins had a sideline heater.

“I think your hands and your feet are the biggest things,” Sherwin said. “If you are able to somehow keep those warm, I think you’ll be in good shape. ... We had a bunch of hand-warmers and stuff like that.

“In those conditions, if you get tackled into the snow, all of a sudden you’re a little colder then.”

College teams, which play later into the fall than prep squads, become accustomed to whatever is thrown their way.

“We practice in the weather — because we don’t have an indoor (facility) — so it doesn’t really bother us,” Slippery Rock University coach Shawn Lutz said. “We practice that way, in the rain and the snow.”

The preparation was for naught when The Rock’s high-powered offense — which entered ranked first in the country in scoring — was frozen out in a 58-15 loss to Minnesota State in the snowy 2019 NCAA Division II semifinals.

“The most memorable moment was the snow game,” Lutz said. “It was a chance to go to the national championship game, so I’ll never forget that. I wish it was a nicer day, because we had skill guys, and that time of year — when it’s cold and it’s miserable out and it’s windy and stuff — it’s hard to throw the ball.”

Roland Rivers III, the team’s Harlon Hill Trophy-winning signal-caller, was limited to a season-low 199 passing yards. Meanwhile, the Mavericks rushed for a net of 213 yards and 5.9 yards per tote.

“That (weather) really set up play for Minnesota State because they’re from that area,” Lutz said. “They’re used to that. I don’t know if they had an explosive offense like we did, and we just didn’t play well that game. I think it always comes into play.

“That’s why you’ve got to be good up front and you better have a running attack that can pound the football. I would think our strength was throwing that year.”

Though high school crews don’t normally see their seasons stretch as long as they do at the next level, practicing in snow accumulation or frigid temperatures is more likely than competing in such. Tuning up for the 2018 WPIAL Class 6A final against Kasperowicz and Pine-Richland at Heinz Field, Seneca Valley coach Ron Butschle faced a minor speed bump.

Snow had taken over the Raiders’ practice field the night before a Thursday practice. He gathered an assistant coach, administrator, and his elementary school-aged son to help him with the issue.

“We got snow shovels and we shoveled 30 yards of the football field off so we could practice,” Butschle said. “It took us a couple hours. It was not easy.”

But, it was worth it.

“It was kind of fun, though,” Butshcle said of that day’s run-through. “At that time in the year, every practice is kind of special. ... Nobody was complaining. It was a cold day, but again, the whole idea is you want to get there. You want to be cold. You want those games.”