The first Wildcat football game of 2011 will come a bit sooner thanks to the threat of bad weather from Hurricane Irene.

BCHS athletic director Melody Coggin said today that the Kickoff Classic originally set for Friday night in Baldwin has been rescheduled to Thursday at 7:00 pm in Baldwin.

Hurricane Irene is forecasted to pass off the east coast of northeast Florida on Friday.

The storm reached category 1 hurricane strength today with maximum wind speeds of more than 80 mph. Irene is expected to be a category 2 storm on Thursday with maximum winds speeds above 100 mph.