Friday Night Lights, an often overlooked outdoor activity
By Bees O’Brien
FARWELL, PA- There’s never been anything like it. It’s a tradition that has been around the Keystone State for years. Friday Night Lights is an often-overlooked outdoor activity.
Schools that don’t have lighting at their football fields have never had the chance to experience this at their own field and that’s a shame. Saturday as I sat at Sheffield’s “Wolverine Mountain” to watch a Bucktail game it dawned on me. Friday Night Lights are not to be taken for granted.
You can’t beat the atmosphere. The Sheffield staff does a real nice job in making Saturday afternoon football feel special to the kids. PA announcer Chuck Demko gives both teams the feel of a truly professional announcing situation, but despite all of their great efforts it falls short of a cool, crisp Friday night in PA.
The view from Wolverine Mountain is amazing and I do see their point. It is, after all nestled within the Allegany National Forest.
Dwyer Memorial Field is where I’ve enjoyed most of my Friday Night Lights experiences. One of the best things about the games, is when a train barrels by the field. That doesn’t happen as much anymore, but it still is a very unique experience.
In my younger years, my friends and I would walk around the perimeter of the playing field making laps throughout the game. I’m also sure I was yelled at by a few security guards for trying to play a game of pickup football.
They still line up the fences in Farwell and crowd the concession stand, but the numbers of fans have dwindled. It’s a shame too. It’s one of the few things in life that is true.
A couple weeks back my wife and I traveled to St. Mary’s to watch the Bucks play Elk County Catholic. ECC doesn’t have a field of their own, so they borrow St. Marys High School’s Dutch Country Stadium and the feel there was easy to tell that wasn’t the Crusaders’ true home. Fans were more reserved and it was almost a silence even on big ECC plays.
No Thompson Street Stadium, home of the Jersey Shore Bulldogs is very different. The field is smack dab in the middle of town and is absolutely electric. No student section in central Pennsylvania can or ever will compete with the “Dog Pound.” Shore’s fans are among the most dedicated and rowdy following you’ll ever see. A game at Thompson Street is an experience any high school football fan must do.
So remember the next time you’re taking in a night game, no matter what field it is, enjoy every second, every down and everything around you. There’re schools that still play during the day!
