The 2024 high school football season is about to turn two weeks old Friday. But for the Aquinas Fightin’ Irish football team, there’s still a “first” that needs to take place.
It’ll happen Friday at 7:30 p.m. when Aquinas hosts Bryan County (1-0) in a non-region matchup that’s more than just another high school football game.
It’ll be the first official home game Aquinas will have in its new football stadium. The Irish players had a practiced on it a few times leading up to the start of the season, of course. Aquinas even hosted a 7-on-7 game late in the summer in its new digs.
But nothing can beat the atmosphere that’s likely to greet fans, players, coaches and staff when Friday comes.
We had a chance to chat with Aquinas football coach James Leonard about the excitement being generated for Friday’s monumental moment.
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GABRIEL STOVALL: Just a general question to begin, Coach. How does it feel to know that your program is about to walk into its new stadium for your first home game here?
JAMES LEONARD: “We’re so excited. It just shows you how much our administration cares about athletics. You’re talking about something that’s been a couple of years in the work. There’s been a lot about it with Casey Johnson, our athletic director and Ms. Lewis, our principal and others all going out, raising all that money. And the responses show how much our community cares. It happened very fast. RW Allen (Construction) turned this thing really fast, and it’s really a very nice complex.”
STOVALL: How much, if any, input did coaches and athletic staff have on the particulars of the complex?
LEONARD: “We had some input, but honestly, at the end of the day, Lewis, Johnson, the contractors, everybody took such great care of everything. Every time there was a new plan drawn up or any kind of change, we’d get to see it, and every coach loved it. There really was no need for a lot of major input from anyone else.”
STOVALL: I bet it wasn’t hard to get the players amped up for it. What’s your take on how much they’re looking forward to it?
LEONARD: “Oh, the players are super excited. We had a couple of things that we’ve done with the 7-on-7 and our first time practicing on it. You know, we didn’t get advertise [that 7-on-7] very much to get a crowd. But we wanted that first home game to be special. I think when people see it and the crowd gets in there, it’s gonna be great. They’re going to love it. I don’t know why, but with all the big retention walls and everything, it just feels so much bigger. We’ve got the new sound system in and it’s awesome. I can’t wait to see it in front of a full home crowd.”
STOVALL: Do things change with football operations, the way you all practice and prepare for Friday nights with the new facilities?
LEONARD: “We’ve always had our own, and I want to thank Greenbrier for being gracious enough to let us use their stadium for games, playoff games, while we were finishing. But with everything we have now, the training room, everything is just a whole lot more efficient now. There’s not nearly as much setup. We’ve got play clocks in the stadium. Sound system is in place so we’re not dragging speakers all over the place. We still kept our locker rooms out because we still love doing our Irish Walk. But there’s a very nice room for officials, great showers and restrooms. Practice is so much more efficient. Everything flows well and easy for both the home and away teams.”
