At least this week, it’s Monday Night Lights

The hot dogs are thawing, parents are frantically rearranging work schedules and coaches are tweaking game plans for a rare Monday night schedule of 55 high school football games, set to take place tonight as a result of numerous postponements caused by poor air quality from the Southland’s wildfires.

It has been a week of disrupted practices and changed routines, but everyone is hoping for a return to normalcy.

“What are you doing in my house? Aren’t you supposed to be at football practice?” Jodi Crissman, the mother of Huntington Beach Edison High quarterback Nick Crissman, asked her son last week.

On Friday night, the UCLA-bound Crissman was home watching television because all games in Orange County had been postponed or canceled.

“It was very odd,” his mother said. “We kept looking at each other.”

Said Crissman: “It was weird. It was the first time I had been home on a Friday night in a long time. I didn’t know what to do.”

On Saturday morning, instead of practicing or watching game film, Crissman played golf with his brothers.

Tonight, Edison (5-3, 1-1) and unbeaten Anaheim Esperanza (7-0, 2-0) are scheduled to play at Placentia Valencia in a Sunset League game.

Crissman’s father, Bob, in Sacramento because of work commitments, is planning to drive to Placentia for the game, then drive back to Sacramento. It’s a mad scramble being repeated throughout the Southland as the concept of Monday night football faces a test involving logistical and organizational skills.

Schools have had to rearrange security, administrative and bus schedules, not to mention freezing concession items that were supposed to be sold last week. Coaches have simplified game plans and tried to keep players in shape with workouts in gyms and multipurpose rooms. Parents have been calling bosses seeking permission to leave work early. And there’s the real Boss, Bruce Springsteen, playing in Los Angeles tonight, forcing some to make choices.

Those involved with tonight’s Southwestern League game between Vista Murrieta (7-0, 2-0) and host Temecula Chaparral (5-2, 2-0) have a reason to feel they’ve done this before. On almost the same day under almost identical circumstances last season, the schools were forced to play on a Monday night because of another wildfire. Vista Murrieta won, 37-35.

What’s particularly disappointing for the schools is that this year’s game was supposed to be televised Friday night by FSN Prime Ticket. The telecast had to be dropped because of the postponement.

“Everybody was looking forward to it,” Chaparral Coach Tom Leach said. “We can’t be bummed out -- that would be selfish with all the fires going on.”

Some Orange County coaches haven’t met with their players since Wednesday because of countywide practice restrictions. Mission Viejo didn’t have classes Thursday or Friday because of poor air quality and has no classes today because it’s a staff development day. But Diablos Coach Bob Johnson isn’t complaining about his team facing South Coast League rival Dana Point Dana Hills tonight.

“It’s not rocket science,” Johnson said. “Everybody has the same problem. It’s not a big deal.”

But once tonight’s games are finished, schools face a short week to recover for Friday’s games. And there’s the challenge of Wednesday’s practices, which happen to fall on Halloween and take on added significance because Tuesday will be a recovery day.

“That’s another weird thing,” Crissman said. “Wednesday will probably be the only practice we hit. That might mess up some people’s Halloween’s plans.”

Vista Murrieta Coach Coley Candaele regularly allows players to show up in costumes for “Wacky Wednesdays.” This week, however, they’ll be expected to focus more because of the shortened practice schedule.

“It has to be a very important practice before they become crazy,” Candaele said.

Riverside King Coach Ken Mushinskie said whatever inconveniences teams are facing pale in comparison to what families directly affected by the wildfires have endured.

“This is a lot bigger than high school football,” he said. “People are losing their lives and homes.”

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eric.sondheimer@latimes.com