Guthrie's Jelsma Stadium is the best Oklahoma City-area football stadium. PHOTO BY JOHN CLANTON, THE OKLAHOMAN

GUTHRIE — We finally made it to No. 1 in our rankings of Oklahoma City-area high school football stadiums.

As we announced in Thursday’s edition of The Oklahoman, our pick as the top area stadium is Guthrie’s Jelsma Stadium.

Here is a link to the story I wrote for Thursday’s paper about Jelsma. It was a fun story to report on because of how passionate Guthrie people are about their stadium — as they should be.

Jelsma is a special place. For the reasons why it is on the list, read my story. I’m going to use this blog post to share some quotes about Jelsma that we didn’t have room for in it.

GUTHRIE JUNIOR QB BRYAN DUTTON

“It’s a lot of fun; it’s really loud. There’s people grilling before the game — it’s got that small college atmosphere to it. The stands are real tight. The whole community gets involved. It’s a real great place to play.

“When I see people that I play against at the mall or wherever, one of the first things they want to talk about is the rock wall and the baseball field. It’s just different; there aren’t a whole lot of places like it.”

FORMER GUTHRIE STANDOUT KEATON CALLINS, NOW PLAYING AT FORT HAYS STATE (KAN.)

“It was always loud.  The Rock was always something special. There was always excitement.
“My junior year, when we won state, we played Shawnee and Tucker Brown in the second round of the playoffs. It was so loud. Just a back-and-forth game.
“In little league, the championship game was always there. I remember all of us saying, ‘If we win, we get to play at Jelsma.’

“It’s a big thing for Guthrie. I think little kids are probably just like we were, going there and watching the high school team play. It’s just a fun place to be at.”

GUTHRIE COACH RAFE WATKINS
“It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles. It doesn’t have a jumbotron; it doesn’t have artificial turf. But as far as atmospshere goes, it doesn’t get any better.
“Before we played Ada, I was painting on Thursday morning, and there was a couple from California that was going through it. They asked if it was the high school stadium and wanted to know about it. Visitors just can’t get over the uniqueness of Jelsma.”

(Watkins said he wasn’t aware of Jelsma Stadium when he was interviewing for the Guthrie head coaching job before the 2001 season).

“It was just a quaint feel. I noticed how the people in this town cherish it. When we were able to remodel it, that added even more to it.”

For all of our stadium-ranking blogs, click here.

Millwood’s L.W. Good Stadium and Leodies Robinson Field is full of tradition, from the hills surrounding the field, to the winning football being played on it.

The Falcons have won four state championships in the last 11 years and five in all, while playing dominant football on the home field. With the field surrounded on three sides by steep grass hills, the stadium has a feel like no other.

The field at L.W. Good Stadium was named after legendary coach Leodies Robinson.

The setup allows it to accommodate more fans than the bleachers will actually hold, and the concrete ramp in the southeast corner provides one of the most unique entrances for the home team coming onto the field.

How to get there from downtown OKC: Take I-40 eastbound to I-235 North. Follow I-235 to I-44West and exit on Martin Luther King Blvd. Take MLK north and the stadium will be on the right.

Millwood’s remaining home schedule: The Falcons host Northeast on Friday and Lexington in Week 10.

Newcastle's new fieldhouse at Racer Stadium.

NEWCASTLE — We are up to No. 3 in our rankings of Oklahoma City-area high school football stadiums, and this is a stadium I’m quite familiar with.

I’ve seen lots of games in Racer Stadium, and it is certainly a unique place to watch a high school football contest.

The checkered endzones. The pregame pageantry with the race car.

I covered Newcastle football for a season for the Newcastle Pacer before coming to The Oklahoman in 2006. But when I went back on September 9 for the Tuttle-Newcastle game, it was like I was at a different stadium.

Newcastle has added artificial turf and state-of-the-art facilities. I was lucky enough to get a tour of their new two-story fieldhouse before the game, and it was very impressive. A fantastic weight room, nice new offices and even a room that can be rented out for parties by the community.

The stadium itself may not be the fanciest around, but there sure is a lot that makes it unique. And there has been lots of great football placed on that field.

How to get there from downtown Oklahoma City: Take I-40 westbound to I-44. Take I-44 west and exit on Highway 62 towards Newcastle. Continue about three miles and Newcastle High School is on the right.

Remaining home schedule: The Racers’ only remaining home game in 2011 is Thursday against John Marshall. Newcastle wraps up its season at Bethany in Week 10.

Douglass High School's Moses F. Miller Stadium is No. 4 on our rankings of the Oklahoma City area's top high school football stadiums.

The Oklahoma City-area high school football stadium rankings reaches No. 4 with a stadium that has plenty to offer, no matter what you’re looking for. This week, we take a look at Douglass High School’s Moses F. Miller Stadium.
 
We based our rankings on facilities, uniqueness and home-field advantage. We will unveil a new stadium every week, wrapping up with our pick as the top area high school football stadium on Tuesday, Nov. 2.

Why Moses F. Miller Stadium is on the list: Built in 2007 to replace the old Moses F. Miller Stadium, which was demolished in 2003, the new version has a strong architectural design and plenty of seating to accomodate the large Douglass fan base. It’s a tribute to the past with a modern feel.

But more than anything, opponents fear it. There aren’t many stadiums in the state with a better home field advantage, thanks to the combination of a great crowd and a talented team. The Trojans are 20-3 since the new stadium opened, including nine straight wins on the home turf.

How to get there from downtown OKC: Take Interstate 40 East to Interstate 35 North. Exit at NE 10th St., and head West. The school campus is on the corner of NE 10th and Martin Luther King Blvd.

Remaining home schedule: While the Trojans are in the running for a home playoff game, the last chance to catch them at home during the regular season is Thursday, when they host Harrah.

Yukon's new Miller Stadium is No. 5 on The Oklahoman's list of top 10 Oklahoma City-area high school football stadiums. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN

YUKON–We’ve reached the top five of our Oklahoma City-area high school football stadium countdown, and this week’s entry still has that new-stadium smell.

We based our choices on facilities, uniqueness and home-field advantage. We will unveil a new stadium every Tuesday, wrapping up with our pick as the top area high school football stadium on Tuesday, Nov. 2.

No. 5 on the list is Yukon’s brand-new Miller Stadium.

Why it’s on the list: Miller Stadium is the crown jewel of Yukon’s new high school campus, which cost more than $80 million in all, with about $17 million dedicated to athletic facilities.

The 6,000-seat stadium has a video screen and scoreboard on the north end, with a large building on the south end that houses the locker rooms, coaches’ offices, two weight rooms and other amenities for the football team, and all of the school’s athletic teams to take advantage of.

With a FieldTurf surface and state-of-the-art track, the stadium could host playoff and state championship events for other classes and other sports as well.

How to get there from downtown OKC: Take Interstate 40 west to Exit 138-139 for Kilpartick Turnpike/Mustang Rd. Take Mustang Rd. north, which will turn into Yukon Parkway. The stadium is located at 1777 S. Yukon Parkway, on the left side of the road.

Yukon’s 2011 remaining home schedule:
Oct. 14: vs. Putnam City North, 7 p.m.
Oct. 28: vs. Choctaw, 7 p.m.

Stillwater's Pioneer Field. PHOTO COURTESY OF STILLWATERFOOTBALL.COM

STILLWATER — Here is the fifth installment in our weekly series on the top 10 high school football stadiums in the Oklahoma City area.

The rankings were produced by myself and Ryan Aber. We based our choices on facilities, uniqueness and home-field advantage.

We will unveil a new stadium every Tuesday, wrapping up with our pick as the top area high school football stadium on Tuesday, Nov. 2.

No. 6 on the list is Stillwater’s Pioneer Stadium, which first opened its gates on Sept. 4, 2009.

Why it’s on the list: Pioneer Stadium is one of the newest and nicest places to watch a high school football game in the state. The home side seats 4,000 fans and the visiting side seats 2,000.

The scoreboard, located on the stadium’s north end, is a 32-foot by 24-foot Daktronics unit, which includes a 31-foot by 11-foot LED video display.

The field is made up of artificial turf (FieldTurf).

How to get there from downtown OKC: Take I-40 East to I-35 North. Take Exit 174 towards Stillwater. Turn left onto S. Western Road, and continue on W. Hall of Fame Ave. Turn left onto N. Main St., and continue on N. Boomer Rd. Turn right onto N. Husband St.

Stillwater’s 2011 remaining home schedule
Oct. 7: Ponca City, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 28: Bartlesville, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 4: Tulsa Union, 7:30 p.m.

Purcell's Conger Field. PHOTO BY STEVE SISNEY, THE OKLAHOMAN

PURCELL — Here is the fourth installment in our weekly series on the top 10 high school football stadiums in the Oklahoma City area.

The rankings were produced by myself and Ryan Aber. We based our choices on facilities, uniqueness and home-field advantage.

We will unveil a new stadium every Tuesday, wrapping up with our pick as the top area high school football stadium on Tuesday, Nov. 2.

No. 7 on the list is Purcell’s Conger Field, which hosted its first official game — between Purcell and Lexington — on Sept. 16, 1938.

Purcell's Conger Field. PHOTO BY STEVE SISNEY, THE OKLAHOMAN

Why it’s on the list: Conger Field is one of the more unique places to watch a high school football game. There are only stands on the West side of the stadium, meaning home and visiting fans sit side-by-side.

“It’s unique because it’s a constant roar coming towards the field (from the West side),” said Purcell athletic director Randy Belicek, who added that, to his knowledge, there has never been an incident between opposing fans.

“I’ve been here 35 years, and I’ve never seen an incident,” Belicek said.

Also, the stadium is overlooked by Red Hill. People can sit up on the hill and watch games.

Jim Conger OKLAHOMAN ARCHIVE PHOTO

Named after: Jim Conger, a former football coach, teacher and superintendent in Purcell. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Coaches Association Hall of Fame in the summer of 1981 and died Nov. 18 of that year.

Conger helped install the T-formation at all of Oklahoma City’s original Big Three schools — as head coach at Capitol Hill and Classen and as an assistant at Central.

How to get there from downtown OKC: Take I-35 south to Exit 95 and merge onto N. Green Ave. Turn left on W. Van Buren St. Turn left on N. 2nd Ave.

Purcell’s 2011 remaining home schedule
Oct. 7: Plainview, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 14: Pauls Valley, 7:30 p.m. (homecoming)
Oct. 28: Mustang JV, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 4: Lone Grove, 7:30 p.m. (senior night)

Taft Stadium

BY RYAN ABER
raber@opubco.com

Here’s the third installment of our weekly series on the top 10 high school football stadiums in the Oklahoma City area.

The rankings were produced by Jason Kersey and me. We based out choices on facilities, uniqueness and home-field advantage.

We’ll unveil a new stadium every Tuesday, wrapping up with our pick as the top high school football stadium in the city area on Tuesday, Nov. 2.

No. 8 on the list is Oklahoma City’s Taft Stadium.

Why it’s on the list: The current disrepair of Taft Stadium is sad given the history of the place. The stadium has played host to a handful of the top high school football games in state history, bowl games and even auto racing. Built in 1934, Taft Stadium was home to the 1944 Bedlam game, where Bob Fennimore scored OSU’s only offensive touchdown and the Cowboys beat OU 28-6. That was a big year for Taft. On Oct. 20, 1944, the stadium hosted Central’s 6-6 tie with Classen in front of more than 18,000 fans. Classen advanced to the playoffs with a late penetration to win the tiebreaker and went on to win the state title. In the 90s, Grambling, coached by the legendary Eddie Robinson, played Langston at the Stadium. It’s also been home to several professional football and soccer teams. The stonework of the stadium, especially on its imposing facade give it an impressive visage. Unfortunately, the stadium is crumbling. A new track was added in 1999. Since then, there have been plenty of attempts to renovate the stadium but the stadium still sits in disrepair. It hosts Northwest and John Marshall games and a host of freshman and junior high games.

Named after: On the campus of Taft Middle School, which is named for William Howard Taft, the 27th president.

How to get there from downtown Oklahoma City: Take I-40 West to May Ave. Take May Ave. north to Taft Stadium, just north of NW 23rd Street.

Remaining schedule:
Sept. 16: Crooked Oak vs. John Marshall
Sept. 30: Ardmore vs. Northwest
Oct. 7: Centennial vs. John Marshall
Oct. 13: Heritage Hall vs. John Marshall
Oct. 14: Chickasha vs. Northwest
Oct. 27: Weatherford vs. John Marshall
Oct. 28: Durant vs. Northwest
Nov. 4: Lawton MacArthur vs. Northwest

Rose Field-Jim Darnell Stadium, Midwest City (Photo by Jim Beckel)

MIDWEST CITY—Here’s the second installment of our weekly series on the top 10 high school football stadiums in the Oklahoma City area.

The rankings were produced by Jason Kersey and I. We based our choices on facilities, uniqueness and home-field advantage.

We’ll unveil a new stadium every Tuesday, wrapping up with our pick as the top high school football stadium in the city area on Tuesday, Nov. 2.

No. 9 on the list is Midwest City’s Rose Field at Jim Darnell Stadium.

Why it’s on the list: Bomber Magic. Before the streak put together by Jenks and Tulsa Union over the last 15 seasons, Midwest City was the dominant program in the state’s top class. The Bombers have won five state titles, including the last two in 6A by a west-side team in 1994 and 1995. Over those two seasons, Midwest City won 28 consecutive games, becoming the first team to repeat in the state’s largest class in 20 years. Tradition is important for Midwest City and one of the most notable traditions for the Bombers has been the players painting their shoes gold during the playoffs.

The stadium is located in a neighborhood across SE 15th Street from Midwest City High School, giving it a unique neighborhood field. It’s also hard to escape the aviation theme there, as military planes routinely fly over the stadium, which is located on Lockheed Drive.

Named after: Oscar Rose and Jim Darnell. Rose was the first superintendent of the Mid-Del district. Rose State College is also named after Oscar Rose. Darnell coached Midwest City for 23 seasons, with a 184-51-11 record. He led the Bombers to the 1960 state title, four runner-up finishes and seven district titles. He never had a losing season and from 1964-75, the Bombers never lost more than two games a year. Darnell died in 2007 at age 78.

How to get there from downtown Oklahoma City: Take I-40 east to SE 15th Street. Take SE 15th Street east to Lockheed Drive. Turn right on Lockheed Drive. Continue on Lockheed Drive. Stadium is on right.

Midwest City’s 2011 remaining home schedule
Friday: Enid, 7 p.m.
Sept. 30: Putnam City North, 7 p.m.
Oct. 14: Choctaw, 7 p.m.
Oct. 28: Lawton Eisenhower, 7 p.m.
Nov. 4: Norman North, 7 p.m.

Tuttle High School football stadium. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN

TUTTLE — Today we kick off our series on the Top 10 high school football stadiums in the Oklahoma City area.

These rankings were produced by Ryan Aber and I, and are based on facilities, uniqueness and home-field advantage.

We will unveil the next stadium on this blog every Tuesday, culminating with our pick as the best high school football stadium in the city area on Tuesday, Nov. 2.

No. 10 on the list is Tuttle’s Bill Hinkle Field at Tigers Stadium.

Why it’s on the list: There are few high school football programs in Oklahoma with Tuttle’s consistency. Coach Phil Koons is entering his 19th season as head coach, and he won state championships in 2001 and 2005 to go with his career 180-41 record.

Jason White, the 2003 Heisman Trophy winner, played his prep football on Bill Hinkle Field.

Some of the Tigers’ success can be attributed to the incredible support they get from the Tuttle community. Friday nights in Tuttle aren’t quite like anything else.

The stadium may not be the fanciest around, but the small-town feel is what ultimately lands it on our list. That feeling comes from the rabid fan support and the stadium’s centralized location in Tuttle.

Named after: Bill Hinkle, Tuttle High School’s former maintenance director. Hinkle loved the field so much that he continued working on it several years after he retired. He died July 10, 2000 at the age of 74, and the field was named after him before the start of the 2000 football season.

How to get there from downtown Oklahoma City:
*Take Interstate 40 westbound to Exit 147A, and exit heading west on Interstate 44.
*Continue on West Interstate 44 to Exit 108, and exit heading west on State Highway 37.
*Continue into Tuttle city limits, and turn right on N. Cimarron Rd.

Tuttle’s 2011 home schedule
Friday: Cache, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 23: Bridge Creek, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 7: Blanchard, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 20: Weatherford, 7:30 p.m.