21 retired after the season. And be careful if some heavy storms start coming in. The Michigan football Stadium is the largest American football stadium by seating capacity. Fast forward 147. Williams was selected in the fourth round (124th pick) of the 2013 NFL draft by the Houston Texans and released a year later. College: Marshall/Georgia Military College/Tennessee-Chattanooga. Manual has won six state championships in its history but none since 1966. Kerr, 6-foot-2 and 340 pounds, has been a solid backup everywhere he's been during his career. There's nothing fancy about how Panther Stadium was built, but on a Friday night in the fall, it becomes a place where the home-field advantage can stand up to any team in the Midwest. The stadium, now named for World War II hero Eso Naranche, received a good enough makeover that it's able to host state championship games. On3 released its updated national class of 2024 football recruiting rankings on Monday. By Staff Reports | March 1, 2023 6:00 pm ET Follow @clemsoninsider. This was a happy accident. The entire stadium is surrounded by the Appalachian Mountains on all sides. Home to two high school football teams full time and all DeKalb County playoff games, it's one of five stadiums owned by the DeKalb County School District and used to go by Memorial Stadium. He was just 24 years old. Pro Football Hall of Famer Bill Dudley first shot to fame at Graham High, when he kicked the game-winning field goal in a 10-7 upset of heavily favored Princeton High. The real key to going to a game here? Dawson, who was portrayed in the film "We Are Marshall" by Matthew Fox and had a cameo in the film as an opposing team's head coach, coached one more season at Marshall before leaving coaching for good. He was only informed of head coach Joe Gibbs' decision to start him in pregame warmups. Courtesy/Tomball ISD Tomball ISD Stadium is the newest. We wanted to find the biggest high school football stadiums in the country. Wai'anae High School is the only high school in the U.S. that's located directly on the beach in this case arguably the most beautiful beach in the world, overlooking the Pacific Ocean on Hawaii's northern shore. The stadium was created with both high school football and college football in mind in Santa Ana, with local community college Santa Ana College as one of its tenants. NFL: St. Louis Rams (2000-01), Green Bay Packers (2001-02), Washington Redskins (2003-05), Buffalo Bills (2006). QB Harold "Hayseed" Stephens. When it comes to pure athleticism, few high school athletes in South Dakota history can compare to Washington High's Nathan Gerry. Backup Nick Foles took over and led the Eagles to the first Super Bowl championship in franchise history. Gene Stephenson starred at Guthrie High in football and baseball before he went to the University of Missouri on a football scholarship. Mitchell Stadium also has enough fame in the state that a Division I football game was once played there when West Virginia University faced Virginia Tech in 1953. It is located on a complex with the Grady Cole Center. NFL/NFL Europe: Kansas City Chiefs (2006-07), Frankfurt Galaxy (2007). 5 - Freedom Field, Warner Robins, Ga. For one thing, you know you're in a stadium that's probably pretty old. You've got two bodies of water with Lake Waukewan to the north and Meredith Bay to the south and sprawling woods that dot the area west of the stadium. City: Reidsville. Madison County didn't spare any expense when it built a state-of-the-art, $8.8 million stadium for Madison High School as part of a $27 million bond issue that was approved in 2017. OL Jim Rose. They wouldn't have got there without star quarterback Logan Anderson, the Class 5A Player of the Year who was also an all-state punter for Madison. After head coach Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma to become the coach at USC, Williams entered the transfer portal. Wherever you're sitting at this stadium, you're going to be looking out at the Chugach National Forest, featuring a vast expanse of trees you have to see to believe. Mitchell Stadium was named "America's Best High School Football Stadium" in 2019 by USA Today via online voting. "As each phase goes along, you start to realize 'Man, this is real,'" Union head coach Kirk Fridrich told The Tulsa World. Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports. Both were then taken with the 187th overall pick in the NFL draft Tracey in 1988 and Scott in 1967. College: Eastern Arizona Junior College/Arizona State/East Central Oklahoma State, NFL/CFL: New York Jets (1979-88), BC Lions (1990). Jones Stadium looks like what H.P. They've won six of the school's seven state championships in the last decade, including three consecutive from 2018 to 2020. It's actually an old-school, open-air stadium, and the team actually still plays on real grass a Bermuda/Rye mix. Devon Still was a star for Howard High and named Delaware's Lineman of the Year as a senior before going on to a standout career at Penn State. Andrews, who played defensive end in college, was selected No. This stadium was renamed for legendary running back and Pueblo, Colorado, native Dutch Clark "The Flying Dutchman" in 1980. . Earle "Pete" Cooper is one of the greatest high school football coaches from Maine. Born in the town when it was still unincorporated and raised in the mountains around the high school and the stadium, he said his recruitment boiled down to his father telling the University of Kentucky to "give us the paperwork and we'll sign it." It's tough to make it in the NFL as an undrafted free agent, but Quince Orchard High product Zach Kerr has stuck around in the league for eight seasons since his All-CAA career at the University of Delaware. For another thing, you know you're probably in a place where they take football pretty seriously. Mater Dei High School has won four USA Today national championships. Dewayne Washington was an All-American for Northern High before staying in-state to play for North Carolina State in college. The city of Gloucester, Massachusetts, was made famous by the 2001 film "The Perfect Storm" and also boasts one of the singular views of any high school football stadium in the country, where fans can watch fishing boats sail out of the harbor and into the Atlantic Ocean. That changed in a big way when the school's first football stadium opened in 2009 on Nicollet Island a small chunk of land in the middle of Minneapolis in the middle of the Mississippi River. That all starts with Fertitta Field and its accompanying, 40,000-square-foot training facility The Fertitta Athletic Center that was built for $9.5 million and completed in 2012. Lavonte David played for powerhouse Miami Northwestern High before starring at Fort Scott Community College and the University of Nebraska, where he was named Big Ten Linebacker of the Year in 2011. Opponents have said the noise the Wildcats make when they bang their helmets on the way out can be pretty intimidating. NFL: Minnesota Vikings (1994-97), Pittsburgh Steelers (1998-2003), Jacksonville Jaguars (2004), Kansas City Chiefs (2005). High school football is played in all corners of the United States. The investment has paid off in a big way, as Bishop Gorman won back-to-back national titles in 2014 and 2015. Benson donated $11 million dollars to expand the stadium from 15,000 to 22,400 seats in 2015. Few high school football stadiums can properly sum up the city they're in as perfectly as Buchanan Field, where it's been built up against the surrounding neighborhood in Washington D.C. Gouveia won a state championship at Wai'anae High, won a national championship at BYU in 1984 and won a pair of Super Bowl titles with the Washington Redskins in 1987 and 1991. In a 10,000-seat stadium. That name has got to go hopefully sooner than later. High schools: Jefferson High School, Washington High School, Kennedy High School. He ran for almost 2,000 yards as a senior and became one of the most highly recruited running backs in the country, picking Oklahoma over offers from Miami and Penn State, among others. Oldham died in 2005 after he suffered a massive heart attack while riding his bike. In fact, luxury apartments sit behind the scoreboard in one end zone. And the view from there is pretty magnificent. But it's the framing of the home side of the stadium that makes it so unique, specifically the gigantic, yellow bridgework stretching out from both sides of the press box. Nick Reid was a star quarterback for Derby High School before becoming a linebacker at the University of Kansas, where he led the team in tackles for three years and was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2005. War Memorial Stadium only had a capacity of just less than 7,000 when it first opened in 1969. Year opened: 1937 (closed in 1973, reopened in 2011). At Northern Iowa, Washington was a two-time Gateway Conference Offensive Player of the Year in 1995 and 1996 and a two-time NCAA Division I-AA (now FCS) All-American. The stadium's seating got a big upgrade in 2011 with new bleachers on both sides. Opened in 1996, Bank Of America Stadium is a 26-year-old stadium, with a maximum capacity of 75,419 spectators. It's fitting that one of the greatest high school football experiences in the country can be had at a stadium that bears his name. Mesquite's. The foundation of the stadium on the home side was originally meant to be a retaining wall for Reitz High School until a quick-thinking member of the school staff observed it could actually be the beginning of a football stadium. And if you do make it here, try to catch Bismarck vs. Century. It amplifies the noise for the home team to some pretty chaotic levels, and it also runs right up to a street in the middle of Guthrie. It would be hard to beat the mid-to-late 1980s as the best time to watch football at J. Birney Crum. In an interesting piece of football history, the Minnesota Vikings actually played their first game (an exhibition) at Howard Wood Field against the Dallas Cowboys on Aug. 5, 1961. It's a piece of architecture that now blends seamlessly with downtown Butte and seems like a perfect fit for the town. Nike has played a role, too. Today, it is also the site of soccer and lacrosse games in addition to football. The best of those was the 1997 national title team, and the best player on that team was Mike Doss. It's home to four high school football teams and two local small college football teams and adjacent to the campus of Bismarck State, which doesn't have a football team. Cincinnati might be known for controversial chili takes, but it also is the home to some of the best high school football in the country. Byron's Stine Stadium, named after Everett Stine who was the Tigers head coach for 37 years (1967-2003), and led them to their lone state title in 1999, is just 5.3 miles away from Stillman Valley . The Bombers have one of the top student sections in the country as the . In Northeast Ohio, high school football stadiums seat any number of spectators, from less than 1,000 in Richmond Heights to more than 12,000 in Parma. One great part of the renovation was the West Monroe home stands were finally moved to the west side of the stadium. 47. In the last decade, they've combined to win seven state titles, with four state championship games where they've faced each other. Picked No. Whitworth, who turned 40 in 2021, is now in his 16th NFL season after joining the Los Angeles Rams in 2017, and is a three-time NFL All-Pro. The biggest high school football stadium in Nebraska (we think) is actually more known for hosting the state championships in track and field each year, which can draw around 25,000 fans. Built as part of the Works Progress Administration in the mid-1930s, Mitchell Stadium also serves as the home field for a team in another state Virginia's Graham High School, which is the only high school in the nation that plays home games in a different state. Kurt Gouveia's name needs to be included in the discussion when it comes to the greatest high school football players to ever come out of Hawaii. While this stadium has existed in some form since 1929, the updated Darling Memorial Stadium that opened in 1989 has seen as good a display of high school football in the last three decades as any stadium. NFL: Pittsburgh Steelers (2013-17), Jacksonville Jaguars (2018). One of the smaller stadiums on this list, Big Horn High School's stadium has been home to six state champions over the years. Since Maryland began officially hosting state football playoffs in 1974, Fort Hill has nine state championships and Allegany has eight state championships, with Fort Hill winning its latest Class 1A title in 2022. Bottom Line: Modern college football fans got a small taste of what it was like . This is a stadium that continually ends up mentioned when we talk about the best high school football venues in the country. In the 30 years since then, it has more than doubled in size. And while football is great and all, no Washington football player could ever live up to the school's most famous alum the late poet Maya Angelou. Maiava was drafted in the fourth round of the 2009 NFL draft and played six seasons in the NFL. Don Hansen doled out punishment as a linebacker for Reitz High, leading them to the 1961 state championship, before playing alongside Dick Butkus at the University of Illinois, where the duo led the Illini to a Rose Bowl win over Washington following the 1963 season. Clark was so good he was part of the inaugural class for the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963. The home team won a state title there in 2012 on a 46-yard field goal as time expired. You're not just going to a high school football game at the Reitz Bowl in Evansville, Indiana you're having an experience. He lettered in both football and baseball at Vanderbilt and captained the baseball team as a senior. He was picked No. This is truly one stadium you have to see to believe, and it serves perfectly for New York as well, because once you're on top of the Union City roof, you'll realize that you're basically sitting in New York's lap with that view of the Manhattan skyline. Head downtown to see all of the pomp and circumstance before heading over to catch the main event at this New Mexico marvel. America's Best High School Football Stadiums, Cathy Parker Field, Diamond Ranch Academy Stadium, eagle stadium, High School Football Fields, Jelsma Stadium, Mitchell Stadium, Monument. Dewayne Washington was an All-American for Northern High before staying in-state to play for North Carolina State in college. There are so many things to love about The Cougar Dome the home stadium for Quince Orchard High School. High schools: North Medford High School, South Medford High School. Despite the schools splitting into two whole new schools, North Medford has kept a claim on the state championships won before the split, including banners and trophies. Bruce Irvin didn't even play his senior year at Stephenson High. Sure, what Tom Brady is doing playing into his 40s is remarkable. There aren't a lot of football players on any level who can say they won like former Webb City High star Grant Wistrom. It opened its doors in 1886 and maintains an enrollment of almost 2,000. This venue, located. Arizona Stadium . You aren't going to see a lot of football players built like Raekwon Davis a 6-foot-7, 330-pound defensive tackle who starred at Meridian High, then started as a true freshman at the University of Alabama. Man, don't miss the sunset. RB Glynn Gregory. Current [ edit] Arenas [ edit] Notes Race tracks [ edit] Stadiums [ edit] References [ edit] Kyle Rudolph was a USA Today High School All-American for Elder High before playing for Notre Dame, then becoming a Pro Bowl tight end for the Minnesota Vikings. Fans can take in the sprawling skyline of Minneapolis as they watch games. Dudley went on to start for the University of Virginia, fought in World War II and returned home to be named NFL Most Valuable Player in 1946. One interesting aside about Tom Huffer Sr. the Mustangs won his final game on a 30-yard touchdown pass against Soldotna High as time expired. Don Hansen busted heads playing linebacker for Reitz High, where he won a state championship in 1961 before going on to play for the University of Illinois, where he won a Rose Bowl championship in 1964. As it's been pointed out by others many times, the stadium still has a lot of its charm because it's nestled right up to a neighborhood in Hartland, Wisconsin. Its namesake, the Omaha Public Schools superintendent from 1946 to 1962, used his power to prevent black teachers and principals from securing jobs in Omaha during his tenure. Both are located next to Central Piedmont Community College. Anderson spent two seasons on the practice squad for the Minnesota Vikings before making the roster for the Philadelphia Eagles. He also was the McDonald's All-American game slam dunk champion and MVP. No stadium in the United States can say it was home to more future NFL talent than Miami's Traz-Powell Stadium. Take Johnny Mathisfor example. Ronald Curry was one of the top recruits in the country starting his junior year and a high school All-American in both football and basketball. Doss was drafted in the second round by the Indianapolis Colts in 2003 and won a Super Bowl with the team in 2006. Mark Gastineau was a late bloomer, playing first for Eastern Arizona Junior College, then Arizona State, and finally transferring to East Central Oklahoma State, where he turned into a second-round draft pick by the New York Jets. In 2019, he was named one of the 100 greatest players in Chicago Bears history. Williams won state championships in three sports at Little Rock Central High in football, basketball and boxing. While Bowen carved out a respectable seven-year career in the NFL, he's always going to be notable for where he was picked in the 2000 NFL draft. Venues are separated into three categories: Arenas, race tracks, and stadiums. Before Mathis became a Grammy Award-winning singer and platinum-selling artist, he was considered one of the greatest athletes to come out of the Bay Area. He played one season in the NFL before playing three seasons in the Canadian Football League, three seasons in the USFL, then one more season in the NFL during the players' strike of 1987. And we all love high school teams who have a cheering section so rabid they get their own nickname. Pro soccer: Greenville Triumph (2019), Real Monarchs (2020), New Amsterdam FC (2021). The $32 million Panther Stadium opened next . Doesn't seem right. Greenway Avenue Stadium was named Fort Hill Stadium until 1987, and by 1998, they'd upgraded to FieldTurf in order to host scrimmages for the Washington Football Team. High schools: Washington High School, Lincoln High School, Roosevelt High School, O'Gorman High School. There are three teams that call Veterans Memorial Football Field in Norfolk home, but if you get to see just one of them, make sure it's powerhouse Norfolk Catholic High, the most dominant team in state history with a record 10 state championships. Competing in Maine's largest classification, Lawrence High has won four state championships the last in 2006 and lost in the state championship game a whopping 10 times. While the Wikipedia page for the stadium says it's no longer the biggest in Pennsylvania following a renovation in 2002, we've yet to find one to top its capacity seating of 15,000. He went on to star at the University of Arkansas, then played 14 seasons in the NFL, where he won an NFL championship with the Chicago Bears in 1963 and was a four-time Pro Bowl selection. He was also a two-time state champion in the 200-meter dash and also won the 100-meter dash as a senior. Wai'anae High School's teams are known as the Seariders for obvious reasons, and this venue is memorable for its unfettered ocean views, perfect weather and laid-back vibe. And in the spirit of thinking outside of the box, we're tabbing the late, great Heath Ledger as the best thing to ever step foot in the Stadium Bowl. Clark was so good he was part of the inaugural class for the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963. High school: Baldwin High School, Hana High School, Kihei Charter School, King Kekaulike High School, Lahainaluna High School, Lanai High School, Maui High School, Moloka'i High School, St. Anthony High School. David has been one of the NFL's dominant linebackers over the last decade with the Tampa Bays Buccaneers. The home stadium for Little Rock Central High School (formerly known as Little Rock High) is named after former head coach Earl Quigley, who went 149-56-11 in 22 years as football coach and won 18 consecutive state championships as the head coach of the track and field team. Bobcat Stadium's new press box features four separate rooms, and the turf was installed by the same company that has done several NFL fields. While the stadium food here is undoubtedly great, you're probably doing it wrong if you don't go sample some of the local seafood after watching the six-time state champions play. North Carolina Tar Heels women's basketball, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_sports_venues_in_North_Carolina&oldid=1115128735. This one is blurring the lines we've set up a little bit. College: University of Florida (Gainesville, Florida) Opened: 1930. Few players in Nebraska high school football history can hold a candle to what Norfolk Catholic High's Aaron Hughes did in 1991. Franks played five years in the NFL and is currently the defensive backs coach for the New Jersey Generals in the USFL. Every Friday night, stadiums fill up to cheer on local heroes who sometimes go on to become college and NFL standouts. All-America wide receiver Torry Holt scored two touchdowns in the biggest upset in Carter-Finley Stadium history, when the Wolfpack beat No. If you do a double-take when you first see Bentonville High's Tiger Stadium, that's perfectly fine. Su'a spent the first two years of his high school career playing in California before his family moved to Arkansas, and he landed on the Bentonville roster as a junior in 2021. Eagle Stadium (Allen, Texas) LM Otero/AP The $60 million Eagle Stadium is a sight to behold. The school is set to hold a public event at the school football stadium at 6 p.m. on St. Patty's Day as 175 students will carry out the finished product to the stadium to be presented and judged . That's essentially what Andrew Whitworth is doing. The great thing about Inter-Lakes High School's stadium is the sheer beauty of New Hampshire. Madison High School won just one game in 2010, but two years later completed a perfect 12-0 season with a win over two-time defending state champion Coeur dAlene in the Class 5A title game. Anderson spent two seasons on the practice squad for the Minnesota Vikings before making the roster for the Philadelphia Eagles. NFL: Dallas Cowboys (2001), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2002), Baltimore Ravens (2003-04), New England Patriots (2005). NFL: Pittsburgh Steelers (1998-2009), Indianapolis Colts (2010). These are the biggest high school football stadiums in the U.S. The most legendary long-distance runner in American history was Marshfield High's Steve Prefontaine, who set national records while in high school before committing to run for the University of Oregon and head coach Bill Bowerman. He was 54 years old. NFL: Washington Redskins (1986-94, 1999), Philadelphia Eagles (1995), San Diego Chargers (1996-98), Las Vegas Outlaws (2001). In 2010, a massive renovation to the home bleachers and the press box doubled the seating capacity at the stadium and it was definitely needed. Rob Gronkwoski played his final season of high school football at Woodland Hills High before going on to star at the University of Arizona and becoming one of the greatest tight ends in NFL history. Christopher Bermudez played at Union City High while he was still in the youth program for the New York Red Bulls, and went pro in 2019 with the Greenville Triumph of USL League 1. High schools: Bismarck High School, Century High School, St. Mary's Central High School, Legacy High School. Best High School Football Stadium in Every State By Tony Adame, updated on February 3, 2023 Gallatin High School Some local high school football stadiums have so much gravitas that the fortunes of a town rise and fall with wins and losses. The most recent gridiron star was former University of Alabama defensive lineman Raekwon Davis, who is in his second season with the Miami Dolphins and helped lead the Crimson Tide to a college football national championship in 2020. Watson, a star running back for head coach Duane Fisher, helped run his family's trucking and supply business in Hobbs and was one of the driving forces behind the creation of New Mexico Junior College at the time the only junior college in the state. While Rebel Stadium still sits in the same place it always has, there is very little of the old facility that remains (if any) after a massive, $6.5 million renovation began in 2015 and was completed in 2017. And maybe it's just the moment when the home team finally takes the field. Frederic W. Allen was part of the Burlington High Class of '44 and played football, basketball, and ran high hurdles on the track team. Gronkowski, a surefire Hall of Famer, has won four Super Bowls three with the New England Patriots and one with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Located approximately 40 miles from the Canadian border and just a stone's throw from Burlington Bay, Burlington Stadium really is as good as it get in Vermont when it comes to high school football. High schools: Washington High School, Lincoln High School, Roosevelt High School, O'Gorman High School. Lawrence High eventually named its stadium after Pete Cooper, who also led the Bulldogs to a state runner-up finish a stunning seven more times. Arrowhead High has had one of the state's best home teams for quite some time and the games at Taraska Field definitely take on a college-like atmosphere. Madison County didn't spare any expense when it built a state-of-the-art, $8.8 million stadium for Madison High School as part of a $27 million bond issue that was approved in 2017. The two schools that share the field, Allegany High and Fort Hill High, have two of the best football traditions in the state. The Newtown Nighthawks won their first state championship since 1992 in 2019, when they beat Darien High on a touchdown pass as time expired. The foundation of the stadium on the home side was originally meant to be a retaining wall for Reitz High School until a quick-thinking member of the school staff observed it could actually be the beginning of a football stadium. R.R. Capacity: 88,548. 2 overall in the 2016 NFL draft. Hes been playing sports ever since he could walk, and hes never stopped since then. NFL: Dallas Cowboys (2011-14), Philadelphia Eagles (2015), Tennessee Titans (2016-17). Coaches and players walk hand in hand from the high school to the field. Central High School opened its doors in 1964 alongside its brand-new stadium, which was named for the U.S. president who was assassinated one year earlier. 2 Florida State 24-7 on Sept. 12, 1998. The reason why Big Horn Field earns the top spot in Wyoming is because, just like Patrick, we're a sucker for stadiums that are framed by mountains. Best stadiums, fields and more high school venues in Indiana HIGH SCHOOL Indiana gyms get all the love, but here are some of our favorite non-basketball venues.