By CHRISTOPHER DABE
August 4, 2008
Posted: August 4, 2008, 10:27 PM CDT
PORT NECHES – Aaron Shetley heard the rumor.
Like most of his Port Neches-Groves football teammates, Shetley arrived at school for the first day of practices Monday morning and found the rumor to be true.
At long last, Shetley and the Indians were set to conduct the season’s first practice on the school’s new artificial-turf field inside the soon-to-be rebuilt
stadium.
“I heard some people talking about practicing out here and I got excited,” said Shetley, a senior tight end/defensive end who recalled attending PN-G games as early as when he was in kindergarten. “It’s an honor to be on this field.”
The Indians are more than two months removed from playing their first game on the new field. Until then, they’ll practice daily on the stadium field.
“It’s a lot easier to get up and come to two-a-days when you know you’re going to come out and be on the new field,” third-year varsity quarterback Harrison Tatum said. “It’s kind of exciting to come out here and just be out here.”
White lines on the field glow brightly when offset by the dark green turf. At midfield are the
letters, “PNG,” in purple. The end zones are solid purple with the word “INDIANS” in white.
“I’ve never been on this field before today,” said senior offensive lineman Ryan McLin, who enjoyed conducting drills on the field’s cushy surface.
Before this season, PN-G practiced on a grass field that required coaches, players and equipment managers to cross a parking lot and street.
Tatum said the old practice field had divots filled with sand, which made footing uneasy. PN-G coach Matt Burnett considered the field to be lopsided and sprinkled with ants.
“It’s a lot easier to be able to walk right outside the field house, and we’re here,” Burnett said. “It’s a lot more convenient. If you need something in the training room or you forget something, you just step right back in and get it.”
Construction continues around the new field. The frame of the home-side bleachers, which peek over the top of the school building, is erected. Missing are benches for fans, which Burnett said will be in place by Oct. 10 for a District 20-4A game against Livingston.
Before then, PN-G will play three nondistrict games on the road and open district play with a game Sept. 26 against Little Cypress-Mauriceville at Memorial, which will act as PN-G’s home field if the stadium is not ready for games after then.
“It’s definitely going to be an exciting time, being that it’s a brand new stadium,” Burnett said. “It’s going to be a big deal for the history of PN-G football. We’ve had a lot of great things happen in this program, and this is another exciting phase.”
Burnett said the field’s drainage system handled a rain shower Sunday, so he is confident the field would dry quickly if Tropical Storm Edouard makes landfall late Monday or early today.
All told, the Indians are slated to play three games in the stadium overhauled with a $10.2 million price tag, according to The Enterprise archives. After Oct. 10, the other two games will be Oct. 24 against Lumberton and Nov. 7 against Central.
“I think it’s going to be a great turnout,” Shetley said as he looked ahead to that first home game. “I don’t thing anyone is going to disappointed in our play because we’ve been working hard all summer. We’re just waiting for the season to get started.”
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