New look

BERNE — Today marks week seven of the high school football season.

It also marks the first home game for the Starfires this year.

The Jay County High School football team’s visit to South Adams tonight will mark the Starfires’ homecoming and their first game on their new home artificial turf in 2023 following the completion of a renovation of their field.

Through the first six weeks of the season, South Adams was scheduled to play two home games — Aug. 25 against Bellmont and Sept. 8 against Heritage. For those two games, the Starfires had to make the 12-minute trip north to Adams Central High School in Monroe.

“That was definitely frustrating,” SAHS coach Grant Moser said. “But what I told (South Adams Schools superintendent) Michelle Clouser-Penrod was if we're gonna get turf, I don't care if we miss some home games.”

South Adams didn’t initially expect to replace its football field. Two years ago, the school was working with engineers to solve drainage problems near the field, the outfield of the baseball diamond to the north and surrounding areas. 

That process helped them uncover a lack of drainage under the football field.

The problem was further recognized Oct. 29, 2021, in a playoff game against Monroe Central that has since been named the “Mud Bowl” because players were covered with mud from head to toe because rainy weather and poor drainage.

After that game, the school knew they needed to do something about the field, either tearing it up and replanting it or installing artificial turf. With Moser, Clouser-Penrod and athletic director Jason Arnold pushing for artificial turf, the school board approved.

The project moved along quickly, with construction starting in June and the field being finished last week. Before South Adams could work specifically on the artificial turf, it had to fix all of the drainage issues and then work on other parts of the project like sidewalks that go around the campus alongside the field.

“To the naked eye, everybody sees the turf,” Clouser-Penrod said. “But there's so much more that we've improved, that people won't even remember what it was like before and we're just really thankful for that improvement as well.”

The team got to practice on the field for the first time Sept. 21 and Moser brought out some of the youth athletes to join the varsity squad on the field for the first practice.

“The first taste was awesome,” Moser said. “Especially the youth parents messaging me and texting me about how cool it was and that the kids can’t stop talking about it.”

The Starfires have two home games remaining on their schedule — tonight against Jay County and Oct. 13 against Southern Wells.

With the home opener, homecoming and a projected close game — calpreps.com projects Jay County (4-2, 2-2 Allen County Athletic Conference) to win by one point while John Harrell has the Starfires (3-3, 0-3 ACAC) as a one-point favorite — Moser is expecting a great atmosphere for the game.

“It’s like what you see in the movies with the small, tight knit community that and the town closed down on Friday nights,” Moser said. “It’s going to be an electric atmosphere with a packed house and a good game. They are on the rise and we are trying to maintain (our success) … so it’s a huge game for us as well.”

With the installation at South Adams this year and Jay County following suit with its own project to begin after the school year, five out of the seven ACAC schools will have artificial turf football fields. (Bluffton, Heritage and Woodlan already have artificial turf.)

While the use of artificial turf is growing, South Adams is still proud of the uniqueness it brings them at the Class 1A level and from the checkered pattern on the sidelines (which represent the cross country and track athletes).

“We are one of the few 1A schools that have turf,” Moser said. “That’s pretty unique to us. …

“That’s not something that you see on a lot of turf fields, in high school especially, the checkerboard, so that’s pretty neat and unique.”