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Best Small town stadium and atmosphere

I really love Mt. Vernon’s current stadium! Nice, new, clean, and most important of all, no soccer lines on the turf! 🤣
 
“Best” may not be the right word, but Wellington was/is? unique. On one end if you kick an extra point you have to go into a corn field to retrieve it. An extra point on the other end and it rolls down a long steep hill.
And when you're really unlucky, there's a road at the bottom of the hill and the football disappears under a cadillac...
 
I have 2. First one I am being biased but I think Hannibal has a nice stadiums but the most thing about Hannibal is the view from the hill on the eastern side of the football field. Watching the sunset go down and watching football from the hill was a cool experience during Covid times.

But the most underrated football stadium I been too is North County. Nice football field and stadium and that Hannibal/North county game back in 2022 felt like a state championship game.

PS…. Troy has the best Stadium and the best fan atmosphere in the Large town/ School conversation.
 
Jasper and Mark Gilbreath Field... the fact they named it after Mark is spectacular, but it sits next to the train tracks, and I did witness an official time out and clock stoppage that occurred due to the unending train whistle. My late Dad worked with some of the engineers that went through there, and they would claim they hoped to cause a interruption if they could. It kind of gives a Brewster's Million feel, without the million of course.

Cass Midway if I recalled had a field and school that seemed in the middle of nowhere, yet had a herd of cattle grazing right next to it... kind of ironic when you realize you're literally on the outskirts of the KC urban sprawl.

Rich Hill, with the old high school building and rock bleachers, could give you the feel of a an old prison yard. You didn't dare drink the water or shower there either.

Now, for some fields I think that would be fun to watch a game at would include Odessa Permian at Ratliff Field (not really small school though), and I'd like to see one up in Barrow, Alaska, on the blue field next to the Arctic. Not sure if I'll ever make it to those. Of course, just to pull up and watch some 6-man game at a spot in the road in Texas or Kansas might be cool as well; one would think the concession and food might be decent at some of those.
I stopped by Ratliff Stadium about five years ago in Odessa. It was a sight to see.

Got a tour of Tulsa Unions stadium about 8-9 years ago by an employee and that was pretty cool (been renovated since and now seats over 11,000, used to seat only 9-10,000 I believe)

If you ever get a chance to go to the stadium outside of NFL hall of fame, that was cool, used to be called Fawcett Stadium in Canton, OH.

Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in Massilon, OH was definitely a fun one to see as well.
 
The old Seneca football stadium for sure. And, as stated before in this thread, having the locals finish chores and then drive their farm trucks to town and line the field with tailgates is a unique experience and is the poster child for best small town atmosphere.

There are several nice stadiums mentioned, Branson for example, that have spent exponentially more money than Miller, but they don’t have the same small town vibe.
 
Marionville No track and lots of people around the field.
Old Princeton with the 8 yard endzones and the dropoff of death on the south endzone.
Old Plattsburg No track and the visiting sideline was on the home bleacher sideline so the band and the crowd was so loud just feet from you.
North Shelby Car parking on the sidelines and end zones People pull their vehicles in on Thursday night to save their spots.
Maysville Down in the valley between two cemetaries
 
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The old Seneca football stadium for sure. And, as stated before in this thread, having the locals finish chores and then drive their farm trucks to town and line the field with tailgates is a unique experience and is the poster child for best small town atmosphere.

There are several nice stadiums mentioned, Branson for example, that have spent exponentially more money than Miller, but they don’t have the same small town vibe.

Drove in there in 1988 to see Shannon Crouch play. We were recruiting him. The town was shut down. Saw the lights first. Got to the field. It was playoff time, so it was crisp and cold. The whole home side was solid red. It was the first time I'd ever seen a tomahawk chop done to perfection. They didn't even do it in KC at that time. Kickoff. Crouch for a TD. Kind of a jaw-dropping moment. The blowout was on.
 
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That would be Ozark lol
The HS does look a bit like a prison from the back (east) of the building, but the view from the top of that press box isn't too shabby either. Looks east over the Ozark foothills. Not as impressive as Bransons, but it's pretty.

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Drove in there in 1988 to see Shannon Crouch play. We were recruiting him. The town was shut down. Saw the lights first. Got to the field. It was playoff time, so it was crisp and cold. The whole home side was solid red. It was the first time I'd ever seen a tomahawk chop done to perfection. They didn't even do it in KC at that time. Kickoff. Crouch for a TD. Kind of a jaw-dropping moment. The blowout was on.
IDC what anyone says, Friday night lights are freakin cool! It'll give ya goosebumps!
 
That is awesome.

Lets road trip and start in Odessa Permian and then end in Alaska. I am sure tophat can fund the flights!
That would start a whole new era of "Survivor Pick Em"

"I think this is the week ugaboz gets left to the bears in canada."
 
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I stopped by Ratliff Stadium about five years ago in Odessa. It was a sight to see.

Got a tour of Tulsa Unions stadium about 8-9 years ago by an employee and that was pretty cool (been renovated since and now seats over 11,000, used to seat only 9-10,000 I believe)

If you ever get a chance to go to the stadium outside of NFL hall of fame, that was cool, used to be called Fawcett Stadium in Canton, OH.

Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in Massilon, OH was definitely a fun one to see as well.
If we are going National head down to the Pfield at Pflugerville TX (outside Austin).
 
The old field that used to hold the Mineral Water Bowl in Excelsior was nice to the eye back in the day
 
In 84 we played a playoff game hosted by Wellington at Wentworth. It was 'brisk' that day. Didn't much care for that stadium.

Think they had flooding. Hadn't allowed a rushing TD all year. We put 4 on them.
That Wellington game was the coldest I ever played in. And the locker room didn't give much reprieve.
 
That Smell could be coming from the Allen Barbre memorial bathrooms. Always thought that was a weird thing to put a guys name on.
Sounds like this place has a great booster club. Need to make more money? Sell the naming rights to EVERYTHING!! You'd be surprised what someone will pay just to see their name on something.
 
That Wellington game was the coldest I ever played in. And the locker room didn't give much reprieve.
It was not due to flooding. I think it was because of crowd size. The original Wellington field was northeast of where it now is and ran north south. It did not have much in the way of bleachers. It was a few years later, the were able to get the land and build the current field.
BTW, when I looked in the KC Star on the write-up of the game, it was true that Wellington had not given up a running TD all year, the second Adrian TD was on a pass. Head coach at Adrian was then Randy Morrow before he moved on to Warsaw.
 
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Jasper and Mark Gilbreath Field... the fact they named it after Mark is spectacular, but it sits next to the train tracks, and I did witness an official time out and clock stoppage that occurred due to the unending train whistle. My late Dad worked with some of the engineers that went through there, and they would claim they hoped to cause a interruption if they could. It kind of gives a Brewster's Million feel, without the million of course.
Haven't been there in forever but agree watching a game at Jasper is indeed pretty fun!
 
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