There are a few smaller schools I pass by on occasion that seem like they'd be a fun place to watch a game just based on the stadium setup. Mt Vernon is one. Reeds Spring looks nice and so does Monett.
Best Small town stadium and atmosphere
- Thread starter bullitpdq68
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I am biased, and I realize that it is beginning to show it's age, but Burlington Field in Brookfield to me is exactly what small town football should look like.
New facilities are beautiful, but to me it always feels special to play in a historical facility with no track around it. Brookfield has played at Burlington Field since 1935, and the concrete stadium seating opened in 1947. If you wander under the stadium late at night, you can hear the voices of the past.
New facilities are beautiful, but to me it always feels special to play in a historical facility with no track around it. Brookfield has played at Burlington Field since 1935, and the concrete stadium seating opened in 1947. If you wander under the stadium late at night, you can hear the voices of the past.
That field is still there but I don't think it is used for anything., just not worth tearing down. Built with WPA cement in the 30s, it may last forever.
George Bruto was an assistant coach and succeeded Morrow. Little known fact is that the guy who succeeded Bruto was a sophomore in high school and had traveled to see this game. Correct on crowd size being the reason for the change of venue.
Can confirm. Been to a few games there. There was a bar downtown (can't remember the name) we wound up at after. Even cooler. Only negative is, when the river is up it's a whole thing.
There was a track around it - 5 laps to the mile and square on the turns. Lasted until they built the new facility then let it go to grass.
True. It was a six lane pea gravel track, but the team used the track as their sideline. The fans are right on top of you. At the newer facilities with 8 lane tracks, they are much farther away.
Monett's stadium and facilities are nice, the atmosphere to me just isn't up to par. Fans are just really quiet and when they do decide to get loud it's always when Monett is on offense. Never quite understood. Glad I had a great student section when I played that made sure the defense fed off of their energy.
Playing in the Big 8, my favorite places to go travel and play always had to be cAssville, EN and Seneca. Going to watch would be the same and would throw in Lamar.
In the spirit of the track being the sideline: Until the early 90s, Tipton's field ran north to south with the visiting team on the east side. That east side ran right up to the infield dirt of the old baseball field that was there, reminiscent of the old days in the NFL and early season games with the pitching mound and second base very evident. I can distinctly remember a rainy, sloppy game, I make a tackle on that sideline and both the ball carrier and I sliding across the infield. I was by no means a devastating hitter, the infield was just slicker than snot. Great memories!
Sqeakers or the Crystal Tavern. They were right across from each other.
Squeakers! That’s it. Knew it had a unique name, just been 20+ yrs and couldn’t think of it.
I watched Crouch there in a playoff game against Catholic. Great game. Watched him at State in 86 and 87. I think he graduated in 88, but I may be wrong. It’s been a minute.
I believe you are correct. He played from 84-87 iirc .
My senior year Butler hosted them in the playoffs on a weeknight . We played on Saturday so got a chance to go down and watch.
. I remember him implanting his facemask in a butler dbacks ribcage and lifting him off the ground like he was involved in the Running of the Bulls.
It was glorious.
Hate they took out our pine trees and natural grass. It was a really cool spot to catch a big game. Have said several times, but my dad was key help putting in the stands in the early 70's. Pretty unique and forward thinking with the ramp accesses on the backside for the time.
Jasper's field has always been unique with those train tracks so close. I am also glad they named the field after a great person like Mark. And with no track around the field, the crowd is right next to the field. I attended lots of games there over 40 years ago (man, I'm old) and remember lots of footballs kicked over the fence into the pasture north of the field and kicked onto the elementary school roof south of the field. A great and unique place and atmosphere to watch a game! I haven't seen a game there for 6 years or so and need to go there again sometime!
I haven’t been there in a long time but School of the Osage has/had a nice facility kind of in the woods. The old field was even woodsier and the giant mosquitos could carry away some of the lighter freshmen. Bonus points for having a strip club a 200 yard dash from the field.
My son and I have been to a lot of stadiums, and some even on games nights. Here are few places were bad: Lathrop's old one bad, I even took a friend there last Friday on our way to Gower. Sarcoxie's old one was bad, Butler's old one, Hogan Prep. One that I liked, Brookfield and Marceline. been to a Bell Game at both and it's crazy to see. Adrian's old place was very cool. I like Lockwood, Warrenton, Seneca and Cabool are some of my favorites. I do remember when we were in Crystal City and crossing the walking bridges that I told my son that you could throw a body over it and it would never be found. I have to say I love going to games at East Buchanan and Windsor. EB's place has come a long way in last few years.
That plot north of football field does have quite a history. One owner put a little pond in it at one point in the 90s I believe and it became a mosquito trap that fed on everyone in the earlier games prior to frost. Also that owner didn’t want people going over retrieve the balls either, so the school had to install a net for a while that was a pain in the tail. Finally around 20 years or so ago, the school was able to buy it, bulldoze the pond, and I believe it now has a practice track on it.
Did it have ample visitor seating?
Pierce City's stadium was hit hard by a storm in the mid-seventies. The storm took off the roof of the elementary school just to the east of the stadium. The decision was made to enlist the National Guard to replace the concrete baseball/football seating with a track and proper football field. Pierce City played their home games at Sarcoxie in 1979 while the field was redone. The new track was a dream of Ted Keebaugh's and to this day, Keebaugh Stadium hosts the Hillbilly Relays. It sits in bowl and is a great place to catch a game.
I played or coached on many of these field, had the game stopped at Jasper for the train. Princeton was probably the most unique field I have been on, the old one. Miller with the pickups is another one. Played on the old Mt Vernon field too. Many memories thru the years.
What little football I played I recall the bowl being rather rocky. Maybe that storm washed away the top soil❓😂
Loved the Hillbilly Relays. Looked forward to it every year.
Jackson’s stadium has got to be up there. No track, in a pit(called “The Pit”), Jumbotron, turf, and a ton of seating around the whole stadium. Lot of history(almost 90 years old). Great atmosphere for a Missouri HS game. Haven’t been to a better atmosphere yet in Mo.
Cabool had a wood chip track around it. The south end endzone, one corner butted up to a concrete wall, the other side was a chain link fence which several kids would get stuck into. The other end part of endzone went onto the wood chips. I rented the house on the south side, had to replace some windows in garage from extra points or field goals.
East Buchanan field is nice but the press box is crappy. I would say class 3 and higher is not small school.
We played pc at Sarcoxie that year. I did not knowcwhy, I was a soph, but now I know.
Is a town of 14,000 not a small town?
Maybe the thread should be titled best small school stadium lol
This is an interesting point. What is a "small" town? Is this defined by total population? Population per capita? Total land within a town's borders?
I'm honestly not trying to be an ass or anything. This genuinely interests me. I grew up in a town that was just slightly below 5k in population. It was always considered to be "small". We also still don't have a single traffic light.
Meanwhile Carrollton is about 2k fewer in total population but has 2 stop lights.
This field could’ve been mentioned already but I’m not going back and looking for it. Friday night I caught my first game at Lockwood and it was a neat experience. (Granted, it was a gorgeous evening so they could’ve been playing next to a landfill on a surface of rocks and broken glass and it would’ve been tolerable.) The grass field was immaculate and I’ve never seen anything like it. It looked like it could’ve been a fairway at Augusta. Home side fans pull right up to the edge of the field. For a small school they have a legitimate band and in a true touch of Americana, the veterans from the local Legion chapter were in charge of raising the flag. Aside from the visitor’s bleachers being at least 25 yds (if not more) from the sideline, it was a neat setup and one the community takes pride in showing off. Hats off to the Lockwood folks.
That field has been the same since the 70s, except the trees on the north side are alot taller. Lockwood has had some excellent teams thru the years.
