I never did like going to Clinton. Hated the visitor seats, usually sat on the home side on those cold, hard, concrete ones. No body would talk to me, dont know why. Now the worst place was for sure the old Jones field. Visitor seats was one, maybe two rickety sets of bleachers only 2 rows high, couldnt even see over the bench. After the first trip there would sit on the home side. SWO fans would outnumber home ones 100 to 1.
Clinton @ WRH
- Thread starter Darkhorse04
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How long ago has it been since you came to Clinton? Old visitor stands were horrible, made of wood. But for several years now they’ve been aluminum and much nicer although if it had been me designing them I would’ve made them less long and more steep giving a higher view.
NE stadium is huge, nice press box. SWO nice but nothing fancy. Central Cabarrus we traveled to this year was nice (field wise) it was turf. Aside from WRH being iconic with a great tradition of their teams, it’s just ok cosmetically, but a great atmosphere. The visiting stands being in the outfield of a baseball field and the makeshift extra home stands kind of give it sore eye to some, but again, damn what an atmosphere.
I retired in 03 and moved to Missouri, so quite a few years. NE was ok, just a long ride. I got no special feeling at WRH, probably because of the loses .... lol. SWO has good seating, on the visitor side also, nice and high. It still looked the same when I was there this year. We hold 3500 and I've seen it filled, and 3 rows deep all along the fence on both sides and endzone in front of the school. Now they have lots more parking also. Used to be for a really big one lots had to park over a mile away. Onslow county deputies and HY patrol had to direct traffic after the game. I always got there by 5 so parked in the back row next to the street and exit so easy out. I lived right in back of the school but with the swamp there had to drive all the way around, about a 1.5 mile trip. I could sit on my back patio and listen to the announcers for the JV games tho. FIRST DOWN STALLIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONS would ring all through the neighborhood. I know every one just loved our announcer, and most would go home humming our fight song they heard it so much during the game.
Yea they’ve change since 03’. Have some family that lives in O’Fallon,Mo. I think we talked about that once. I like going to SWO, lots of similarities to Clinton starting with the black horse upon entry. Only negative time I’ve ever had there, was one time a few years ago when we played in the playoffs there we were told we had to broadcast outside. It was frigid, we setup in the stands behind the band and coincidentally the SWO announcers (who have always been nice to us), saw us and told us they had made room for us but this wasn’t until after the game was over and they saw us breaking down. They thought we didn’t show. In their defense it was their AD at the time or coach (Not Phil Padgett) maybe an assistant idk who told us we’d have to be outside.
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Agree over the years to enjoy SWO loved it when Coach Foster was doing the games. Love hearing Billy call the game on radio. Friday night going to be big down east in 3A too Northside at Havelock.
Legion stadium was built in the late 40's or early 50's. Wallace has been playing there ever since.
I love the Horses playing at the pound. They usually do well there. As a fan you’re seated right on top of the action. oh that 1994 year yes we won at the pound but in the playoffs the week before the WRH matchup the Horses pre
04, in 1984 when we built whats now Bobby Robbinson/Bob Lewis Field at DarkHorse Stadium, we were running short of funds for the visor side so we too the visitor side bleachers from the old stadium and they last a few years. One thing we did do was the soil for the turtleback of the field came from where the visitor's side was to be which left basically hole. We hauled a zillion dump trucks of dirt (from the area know as the moon) there building it 5 feet above the sideline. Now that we have metal bleachers there rom almost endzone to endzone with concrete walkways I would say you couldn't find a nicer visitor side to watch a game.
Building the stadium is a long, long story. The funding and work for it ws almost unheard of to this day. I'll tell you about it sometime. Its interesting
The best thing that makes Legion such a good place to watch a high school football game to me is how close you are to the action. I love being able to get right down there on the field at ground level with everything going on. It makes you feel like part of the team so to speak. I will admit that our fans are very spoiled but it can get loud and rowdy there on certain occasions. When I was in school there was an entire section that was just the students, the last section on the scoreboard side. You had to get there early or you were just SOL for a place to stand. We could use air horns, inflatable thunder sticks, pull string poppers, etc. The cheerleaders would always lead chants right in front of that section and sometimes a person in the crowd would start it and everyone would follow. Of course there were no cell phones to bury your head in so everyone kept up with the action on the field. It was great. Now that being said this was 5 years before WRH won their first state title in ‘94. I know rules have changed and all the success, especially the last 10 years, has definitely softened up our fans some. Now it’s gonna be a huge game this Friday for conference standings so I fully expect a great crowd of around 2500-3000 people. Clinton fans will travel well with the short drive.
Like I said ,don’t have dog in his fight Just a football fan.I waz told by coach that played both teams.He said Wallace waz best team he face so far .Wallace haz been tested.Going for battle tested team.
sound like that coach's team got theiir tail whipped by both teams. Not really hard to figure that out, only common opponent, Northside.
Clinton beat Northside 28-13 holding Northside scoreless after the 1st qtr. WRH beat Northside 28-21 in a game the boxscore indicated was close until the end. Clinton hasn't been tested. Their loan loss was to a very good 3A Central Cabarrus team that will most likely go deep in their classifications playoffs with a couple of D1 recruits. I don't know who will win but I think both teams are probably equably capable.
Yeah, that game at NS, I thought oh hell Clinton's back. I couldn't understand why NS wouldn't give the ball to #6 Conley more. I bet he touched it 20 times in second half of WRH game
Exactly...in the Clinton-Northside game #6 couldn’t be stopped in the first half and it was like he barely touched the ball the 2nd half. Now Clinton did play a great game in the 2nd half so I’m sure had a lot to do with him not getting as many touches. Turning point in the game was the Clinton strip fumble and return for the td, IMO. Northside never recovered from that. I can’t speak for the WRH-Northside game but I heard that #6 touched the ball an awful lot.
East Bladen is a common opponent aswell......but forget what any coach says or what is said up here has no barring on what happens on the field Friday Night.....Wallace is the favorite and rightfully so but im expecting a good game a nail biter i would think everyone will get their money's worth.....also i think this maybe the first of 2 meetings between these two......important thing for the winner its not over....and for the loser its definitely not over. Go Horses!!!
We are broadcasting this one on Visitor side amongst our fans in the stands. Listening at home you should be able to feel the energy. Last time we did something like this was when our Horses played at Greene Central in the playoffs years ago, and it was one of the coolest experiences. When you are in the booth your isolated from the fandom but this Friday we are gonna be in the Middle of it. Should be a good one, hoping for a classic!
Only thing bad about broadcasts in the middle of fans is the background noise. Real hard to hear the announcers. Depending on whos rockin the game will determine the volume of either fan base. But as you say should be able to get a feel of the game no matter who is winning. If you are loud and clear probably means things arnt going well for the Horses.
Crowd noise can be an issue but wind is worse when outside. Crowds have highs and lows but when the wind is constant it’s almost impossible to prevent the swirling sound drowning out a call. I’ll try and be as clear and loud as I can for those tuning in. Excited to say the least.
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Yea, it’s already been worked out with WRH. 34, come find us we will save you a seat, you can slip us stats.
Wind shouldn’t be a factor at WRH it’s contained on the periphery by walls and tree line , I mean it could but not likely. The weather is going to be perfect for Thursday’s Clinton Lions Club Fis Fry (lunch & supper) at the Agri-Civic Center and perfect for Friday nights game at WRH as well.
I know I saw where WRH is having some kind of 25 year celebration. They should also retire Nate Irving’s jersey that night IMO
I know that State Championships mean more than conference championships ... But WRH hasn’t won a conference championship since 2016. High School OT brought this to my attention. Pretty neat.
I’m assuming you mean outright conference championship? Just last season we were co-champions with Clinton. I don’t agree with it because Clinton beat us head to head so I think they should have been outright champions but that isn’t the way it’s written these days.