Neighbors Rally, Revive 'Community' Stadium
August 31, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
MOUNT PLEASANT – Josh Wheaton stood admiring the Community Memorial Stadium grass a little less than a year ago, and he knew what was coming next.
The weeks of trampling to come would produce the same result as every year beginning in mid-September.
“I’m looking at it and thinking, I can’t believe a week ago it was exactly the way you’d want your yard to look,” said Wheaton, a varsity assistant coach for Mount Pleasant’s football team. “And now, it’s this. It’s the same every year. I knew it was coming – and by weeks 7, 8, 9, we were going to be playing in a mud pit.”
But less than a year later, as the team prepared for its first game last week, Wheaton and his Oilers – and co-tenant Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart as well – all were enjoying something that defied any expectation: a project pulled off so quickly, it spoke well to the name of the stadium the schools share.
In less than a year, supporters of Mount Pleasant High and Sacred Heart Academy raised $600,000, secured another $300,000 in donated work, and assisted in the transformation of the stadium from an aging landmark built 50 years ago to what should again be one of mid-Michigan’s athletic jewels for years to come.
The schools reopened the stadium Friday for a doubleheader. Sacred Heart fell to rival Beal City in the opener, and Mount Pleasant then defeated Midland Dow to finish a night that saw more than 5,000 fans pass through the new gates and witness the official debut of stunning two-tone green turf that served as the main focus of a renovation that has only just begun.
“It is a community that believes in young people and certainly believes in athletics,” Mount Pleasant athletic director Jim Conway said. “I think being in a college town (with Central Michigan University), there’s that collegiate portion to it where the kids start (here), and many end up matriculating over there. And we sit right here in the middle of the city, and being the shared facility, that is kind of the focal point. We were able to use that and people latched on and wanted to be a part of it, and we’re still going.”
If you rebuild it …
Community Memorial Stadium opened in 1965 as the shared home of the Mount Pleasant High and Sacred Heart football and track and field programs. Prior to its construction, the programs had a variety of homes – CMU’s Alumni Field for the Oilers and at times the Irish, who also played at Fancher Field and at Island Park going back to at least the mid 1930s.
The new stadium construction was funded solely by the community and opened Sept. 25, 1965, for what ended as a 26-26 tie between Mount Pleasant and East Lansing. The field has remained a point of local pride since, with junior high games and the town’s rocket football teams also taking regular turns on the grass.
Most weeks during the fall see the stadium host three or four games. But Wheaton said last fall there were three weeks during which 11 games were played.
It’s not that all the activity tore up the field. But it didn’t allow the grass time to regrow after the older kids did their damage on Fridays and Saturdays.
All of that caused Wheaton to casually suggest last fall to Oilers coach Jason McIntyre that the grass should be replaced with synthetic turf. Never will happen, McIntyre responded. That conversation had been had before – including briefly when a bond was passed eight years ago that led to the repair of the locker rooms, concession stand, press box and track at the stadium – and talks about going to turf had never progressed past the idea stage.
Wheaton told his boss he’d take care of it, but nothing more was said on the topic for a couple weeks … until someone else brought it up, and McIntyre joked that Wheaton was all over it.
This time, he ran with it.
In October, Wheaton formed a committee made up of supporters of both schools. They decided they would need to raise all of the money for turf over six months – by April 1 – and split into sub committees to handle fundraising and construction.
“When I first heard about it, I was a little skeptical,” said Sacred Heart athletic director and football coach Rick Roberts, who like McIntyre is a second-generation football coach in the 26,000-resident town and has led his program for 23 years.
“I wasn’t sure we could raise that much money in that short of a time; the economy isn’t the greatest at the moment. But when I went to a meeting, and saw the energy that was around the table, I knew it was going to happen.”
Pillars of the Community
Mount Pleasant High is a Class A public school with about 1,070 students. Sacred Heart is a Class D Catholic school with about 140 enrolled. In those ways, they couldn’t be more different.
But kids at the schools grow up playing Little League baseball or youth basketball together, and a number of Mount Pleasant High families attend Sacred Heart Parish.
And there was plenty of work for all to do, and do quickly.
With money rolling in, the old grass field would need to be dug out to eight inches below the surface. Materials would need to be brought in to refill the base where the synthetic surface would be laid.
Pennsylvania-based ProGrass did the turf work, but the rest was done with local hands and equipment.
Wheaton made contact with the Isabella County-based Morey Foundation, which pledged to match $200,000 in donations from the community. Committee member Doug Moore is a president with Fisher Companies, which does concrete and asphalt work as well as construction transportation in mid-Michigan, and his company contributed much of the $300,000 in in-kind work.
McGuirk Sand-Gravel, which had also contributed when the stadium originally was built, hauled out the old field, while Malley Construction built the concrete curbs and long jump pits. Contractor Eric Borodychuk constructed the new entrance. Straus Masonry continues to build the wall of bricks and pillars purchased by donors, and other volunteers landscaped the hill near the front gate.
“If you don’t have those kind of people in your community, this doesn’t even get off the ground,” Wheaton said.
“We thought that was there,” Conway said of the support. “This is proof.”
Still work to do
Oilers senior Zach Heeke remembers teammates turning ankles on the old practice fields in holes left over from shot put tosses the previous spring.
Those are more or less a memory now – the varsities for both schools practice daily at the stadium, sometimes splitting the field down the middle. The subvarsity teams still practice on other fields, but the track and field throwing areas are inside the stadium as part of the new construction.
Heeke is more connected to athletics than a typical high schooler – his dad Dave Heeke is CMU’s athletic director – and Zach appreciates greatly what’s gone into his team’s new home field.
“It’s an honor, for sure. It gives us a lot of motivation,” Heeke said. “All the people who donated money to have this happen, we have to show them that we’re good enough and we want to play here, and we’ve got to play for them. It’s awesome to think of all the people who come to our Friday night games, and maybe they’re not showing up in the stands, but they’re on the wall and they’re thinking about us.”
Two members of the original 1965 stadium committee attended a celebration of the new field Thursday. Roberts, who remembers the stadium’s initial construction, believes the original contributors who have since died would be “thrilled” with how the current community has taken up their work and improved upon it.
Bricks and pillars continue to be sold, for as little as $250 and as much as $25,000, as part of the Pillars for the Community fundraising group the renovation committee set up. That money will fund a phase two that likely will include replacing original concrete and possibly adding new bleachers. Both schools are contributing together annually to a fund that will allow for the necessary regular maintenance and then replacement of the turf in 10-12 years.
“(The committee) all wanted the same thing. And when you get a bunch of ex-athletes in a room who all want the same thing for kids in the community, it goes pretty well,” Conway said.
“It’s just been a Mount Pleasant family, if you will."
Geoff Kimmerly joined the MHSAA as its Media & Content Coordinator in Sept. 2011 after 12 years as Prep Sports Editor of the Lansing State Journal. He has served as Editor of Second Half since its creation in Jan. 2012. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for the Barry, Eaton, Ingham, Livingston, Ionia, Clinton, Shiawassee, Gratiot, Isabella, Clare and Montcalm counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) The Community Memorial Stadium turf includes the logos of both its home teams, the shamrock for Sacred Heart and the oil derrick for Mount Pleasant High. (Middle top) Supporters have given to the stadium and the schools' players in multiple ways, from buys bricks and pillars to hanging signs. (Middle below) Sacred Heart runs a play against Beal City during Friday's game. (Bottom) Mount Pleasant High and Midland Dow players warm up before their game Friday night.
A new gate at the north entrance welcomes fans to Mount Pleasant's Community Memorial Stadium. The gate is anchored by pillars highlighting some of the project's largest donors.
The parking lot-side of the stadium pressbox, like field below, includes banners of both teams that share the field.
The uprights are padded specific to the team on the field; red for Sacred Heart's Irish and dark blue for Mount Pleasant High's Oilers.
More than 5,000 fans filled the stadium for Friday's doubleheader, these mostly supporters of Mount Pleasant High after the Sacred Heart game against Beal City had ended.
1st & Goal: 2024 Week 9 Preview
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 24, 2024
Over the next 72 hours, high school football will end for many and championship hopes will restart for several, and we will honor and appreciate both.
This is the final weekend of the 2024 regular season, and just more than half of 600 varsity teams will conclude three months that for most were several years in the making. On Sunday, we’ll announce the pairings for this season’s MHSAA Playoffs, and 288 of those teams will begin another season they hope will end in late November with a Finals championship.
And here’s the best part in this moment: There’s still plenty to decide and memories to be made.
Games listed below are tonight unless noted, with results posting as they are reported all weekend on the MHSAA Scores page, and every division’s playoff points summary updating as well as scores are received. Full playoff brackets will be announced at 4:30 p.m. Sunday on FanDuel Sports Network (formerly Bally Sports Detroit), with game dates and times added to MHSAA.com throughout Monday.
Bay & Thumb
Davison (6-2) at Lapeer (5-3) WATCH
Although Grand Blanc wrapped up the Saginaw Valley League Red title last week with its 55-49 win over Davison, the Cardinals can bounce back and lock down not only second place but more importantly a spot among the top half on the Division 1 playoff list. Davison is No. 13 and Lapeer is No. 24, and those two and Grand Blanc have ended up in the same District the last two seasons. Last year Davison and Lapeer played each other back-to-back in Week 9 and then a District Semifinal, with the Cardinals winning 56-55 and 76-35.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Gladwin (6-2) at Frankenmuth (8-0) WATCH, Midland Dow (5-3) at Midland (7-1) WATCH, Port Huron Northern (6-2) at St. Clair (6-2), Ovid-Elsie (7-1) at Standish-Sterling (5-3) WATCH.
Greater Detroit
Detroit Martin Luther King (6-2) vs. Detroit Catholic Central (8-0) at Ford Field
This matchup will conclude a day of Catholic High School League Prep Bowl festivities at Ford Field, and it’s an incredible regular-season finale for the entire state as the 7:30 p.m. kickoff matches the CHSL Central champion Shamrocks against the Detroit Public School League Blue title-winning Crusaders. They last met in a 2019 season opener, won by DCC 24-22, but do have a common opponent this fall as King fell to Warren De La Salle Collegiate 35-13 in Week 2 and the Shamrocks doubled up the Pilots 31-14 in Week 5.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Birmingham Seaholm (6-2) at Birmingham Groves (8-0) WATCH, Saline (5-3) at Lake Orion (6-2) WATCH, Macomb Dakota (7-1) at Oxford (6-2) WATCH. SATURDAY Macomb Lutheran North (7-1) vs. Clarkston Everest Collegiate (8-0) at Ford Field.
Mid-Michigan
Belleville (8-0) at Howell (8-0) WATCH
This Kensington Lakes Activities Association championship game could be considered among Howell’s most notable opportunities in 60 years. The Highlanders are playing for a first perfect regular season since 1963 – according to Michigan-Football.com – and to achieve it they’ll have to overcome a team that has played in three straight Division 1 championship games and won them in 2021 and 2022. Every serious high school football fan in Michigan knows of Tigers four-year star quarterback Bryce Underwood, but Howell also will have to contend with a defense that hasn’t given up a point since Week 6. The Highlanders are familiar with top competition, however, opening with a win over Hudsonville before making their first undefeated league title run since 2008.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Hopkins (6-2) at Belding (7-1), Lansing Everett (6-2) at DeWitt (8-0) WATCH, Petoskey (8-0) at Clare (7-1) WATCH, Fenton (7-1) at Mason (6-2).
Northern Lower Peninsula
Fowler (8-0) at McBain (8-0)
Fowler is the top-ranked team in the Division 8 coaches poll, and McBain is No. 5 in Division 7. Both will carry impressive league title runs into the playoffs, as McBain’s in the Highland Conference included a four-point victory over Division 8 No. 4 Beal City and a seven-pointer over Evart, while Fowler was challenged by Division 7 No. 6 Pewamo-Westphalia in a 14-11 win and opened this season with a 20-6 victory over No. 9 Hudson. Fowler won last year’s Week 9 meeting with McBain 40-0, but this Ramblers team has avenged all three of its other 2023 regular-season defeats.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Croswell-Lexington (6-2) at Ogemaw Heights (7-1) WATCH, Kingsley (6-2) at Charlevoix (6-2) WATCH, Traverse City West (5-3) at Traverse City Central (4-4) WATCH, Traverse City St. Francis (6-2) at Boyne City (6-2) WATCH.
Southeast & Border
Dexter (8-0) at Chelsea (7-1) WATCH
This is a matchup of champions in the Southeastern Conference between the Red’s Dexter and White’s Chelsea, their second as nonleague opponents after years together in the White or the formerly one-division SEC. Chelsea won last year’s matchup 31-21 and owned this rivalry for several seasons until the Dreadnaughts claimed their 2022 contest. The Bulldogs are coming off a 21-20 win over Trenton last week but have otherwise marched through most of their schedule since a season-opening loss to still-undefeated Grand Rapids Northview. Dexter has won six straight by double digits after receiving a forfeit win from Saline in Week 2 and edging Livonia Franklin 27-26 to open the fall.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Ida (7-1) at Clinton (6-2) WATCH, Manchester (6-2) at Jonesville (5-3). SATURDAY Leslie (7-1) at Hanover-Horton (8-0), Kalamazoo United (7-1) vs. Jackson Lumen Christi (7-1) at Ford Field.
Southwest Corridor
Niles (7-1) at Paw Paw (8-0) WATCH
The Wolverine Conference championship comes down to a winner-take-all Week 9 matchup between these two for the second straight season, and with the only loss between them this time Niles’ to St. Joseph all the way back on Aug. 30. The Vikings defeated Paw Paw 56-18 to take the league title last year and again 42-13 for a District championship two weeks later. And there’s no arguing that Niles hasn’t dominated Wolverine play so far, outscoring its six league opponents by a combined 298-27 – although Paw Paw accomplished just about the same, outscoring then same teams by a combined 262-26. The Red Wolves also had early wins over eventual league champions Big Rapids and Berrien Springs before beginning the pursuit of their own.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY White Pigeon (7-1) at Bronson (6-2) WATCH, St. Joseph (7-1) at Portage Central (6-2), Constantine (6-2) at Lawton (6-2) WATCH, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix (5-3) at Kalamazoo Central (5-3) WATCH.
Upper Peninsula
Marquette (6-2) at Kingsford (8-0) WATCH
There are a few storylines here of note. Kingsford, coming off its first 10-win season last year since 2004, is seeking to finish off a first perfect regular season since 2002. But Marquette has a ton riding on this as well; the Sentinels, with their best record since 2021, sit three spots outside the Division 2 playoff field. They will be aiming to defeat the Flivvers for the first time since 2021, and then relying on their previous opponents from this season to have enough Week 9 success (and gain them enough bonus points) to boost them into the field.
Keep an eye on these THURSDAY Negaunee (6-2) at Iron Mountain (8-0) WATCH. FRIDAY Bark River-Harris (5-3) at Menominee (7-1), Houghton (3-5) at Hancock (1-7), Escanaba (4-4) at Gladstone (1-7) WATCH.
West Michigan
Cedar Springs (7-1) at Coopersville (5-3)
These two and Lowell enter the final week of the first season of the River Cities Alliance all tied for first place – meaning the winner of this game is guaranteed at least a share of the championship, and Lowell can pick up a share as well with a win over Greenville. Cedar Springs has bounced back nicely from last season’s 4-5 finish, with its only loss to Lowell in Week 5. Coopersville has guaranteed a fourth-straight winning regular season but is in league title contention this late for the first time in several. The Broncos are coming off back-to-back losses, a two-point heartbreaker against Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills and then a 24-7 defeat to a league champion in Big Rapids last week.
Keep an eye on these THURSDAY Grand Rapids West Catholic (6-2) at Zeeland West (7-1) WATCH. FRIDAY Rockford (6-2) at East Kentwood (5-3) WATCH, East Grand Rapids (5-3) at Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central (6-2), Manistee (5-3) at Mason County Central (7-1).
8-Player
Alcona (8-0) at Deckerville (8-0) WATCH
The 8-player slate this week has multiple league-title deciders – but this one could impact the pursuit of the Division 1 championship over the next month. Deckerville is No. 1 in 8-player Division 1 playoff-point average at 37.750, and Alcona is just behind at No. 2 and 37.542. Of course other numbers come into play, both will be need to win their first three playoff games, and maps aren’t even drawn yet – but if they end up on the same side of the bracket, tonight’s matchup could end up determining which teams hosts a Semifinal rematch if that becomes reality.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Powers North Central (7-1) at Crystal Falls Forest Park (8-0), Gaylord St. Mary (7-1) at Indian River Inland Lakes (8-0), Pittsford (7-1) at Climax-Scotts (7-1), Munising (6-2) at Pickford (8-0).
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PHOTO A pair of Ovid-Elsie defenders close in on New Lothrop’s Michael Schachter (9) during the Marauders’ 42-0 Week 8 victory. (Photo by Click by Christine McCallister.)