Hit the lights
Posted By DAN DAKIN , REVIEW STAFF WRITER
It's official: We're back for another year.
The Review's Thursday Night Lights high school football series will return again for 2009, but in a bigger, better package.
The series, which raised more than $5,000 for local high school football programs during its inaugural season in 2008, will feature at least five games this season.
For five straight weeks from the end of September to the end of October, The Review will host city rivals under the lights at Kalar Sports Park, which proved to be a great location for football last season.
Among the improvements for this season will be the inclusion of quite possibly the biggest city football rivalry of them all -the Saint Paul Patriots and Saint Michael Mustangs.
The two Division 1 teams will clash in the only Friday night game of the series Oct. 16, which will also include a junior game for a Catholic school doubleheader.
"Every time we play them, it could be the first game of the season or the last game, it's an important game for them because they know each other so well," Mustangs coach Dominic Scozzafava said. "The expectation is to play as well as you can. That way win or lose, you can have fun."
This year's Thursday Night Lights schedule kicks off with another city rivalry Sept. 24, when Westlane plays A. N. Myer in the Varsity Division season opener. Start time for all games other than the Catholic school doubleheader is 7 p. m.
After the season opener, Week 2 of the series Oct. 1 will see a rematch of last year's Varsity championship game between the Sir Winston Churchhill Bulldogs and the Stamford Hornets. The two teams went into the final undefeated, and the Bulldogs came away with a dramatic 15-14 win, robbing the Hornets of their first title in 14 years.
Week 3 will see the Hornets in action again Oct. 8, this time against the Westlane Spartans.
One of the biggest high school football crowds in years is expected for the Week 4 game Oct. 16 between the the Mustangs and Patriots. The teams will be playing for the Sister Barbara Cup, a trophy given annually to the winner of the game. The Patriots won it last year at Mitchelson Park with a 23-17 overtime win.
This year it's Saint Michael's turn to host the game, and they arranged for the Friday night doubleheader to include the schools' junior programs, as well. The junior game will start at 5 p. m. with the senior contest to start at 7:30 p. m.
Scozzafava said adding the junior game will allow some of the first-year players an experience they'll likely use in future years.
"For some of those guys, Grade 9 football is their introduction to the sport, so an experience like that makes them start liking football even more. Part of it is wanting them to enjoy the whole football experience that goes with it," he said.
The final game currently scheduled for the Thursday Night Lights series is Oct. 22, when another two longtime city rivals -Stamford and Myer -compete for the MacBain Cup, a trophy given out to the winner of their game each year.
That game will also include the finals of a punt/pass/kick contest being planned for the public high school feeder schools.
Stamford coach Brad Martin said his players couldn't wait to find out if they would be playing under the lights this season.
"The kids loved it. The biggest one was when we played Westlane. The place was packed and it was atmosphere was electric. It's the kind of stuff when you're a kid you never, ever forget. I think things are going in the right way for football," he said.
Martin admitted it would be nice to have a repeat of the first nine games of least year, but with a different outcome in the championship.
"A lot of the kids that are returning after that (championship) game are very focused on repeating the success they had last year. To them, they have unfinished business. Sooner or later everyone is due. It would be nice," he said.
While the Thursday Night Lights schedule currently sits at five games, more games - including playoff matchups - will likely be added once the season gets underway.
Admission to the games will stay the same as last year -$4 for adults and $2 for students and seniors. All proceeds will be split between the two teams playing each game, so the more fans schools bring out to the games, the more money they can raise for their programs.
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Thursday Night Lights 2009 WEEK DATE TEAMS
1 Sept. 24 A. N. Myer vs. Westlane
2 Oct. 1 Sir Winston vs. Stamford
3 Oct. 8 Westlane vs. Stamford
4 Oct. 16 SaintPaul vs. Saint Michael
5 Oct. 22 Stamford vs. A. N. Myer
