Bulldog Stadium

(Click on image to enlarge)

Playing Surface: AstroTurf GameDay XPE 42 (installed Summer 2008)
Capacity: 2,000 (1,500 west side, 500 east side)
First Game: September 26, 2003
 

Carl Junction High School opened their new Bulldog Stadium in September 2003, following the May 2003 tornado which caused significant damage to their former stadium as well as several school buildings and other athletic facilities.

 

With a short period of time to ready the new stadium, the team actually played their first "home" game that season at Pittsburg State University, hosting the Willow Springs Bears.  The Bulldogs won that contest, then took to the road for two weeks, before officially welcoming Lamar to the first game at the new Bulldog Stadium September 26, 2003.

 

In an eerie flashback to May, a strong storm blew in near halftime of the opener, with the lightning and rain chasing fans to their cars and into the neighboring high school building.  For many, the thought of "here we go again" raced thru their minds.

 

After more than an hour delay, the skies cleared and the two teams returned to the field while many diehard fans returned to the bleachers.  The Bulldogs held a late 6-5 lead, an odd score for football but derived by a combination of a missed PAT by Carl Junction and a field goal and safety by the Tigers.

 

With Lamar stuck in their own territory and the final minute beginning to tick off the clock, Lamar's quarterback scrambled out of the pocket, sprinted one direction, cut back and eventually broke into the open.  Bulldogs fans gasped as he sprinted into the open and found the end zone, giving the Tigers the lead and spoiling the Bulldogs' home field debut.

 

Despite losing that first game at the new stadium, the 2003 edition of the Bulldogs re-grouped and finished 7-3 that year, earning a share of the Big 8 Conference title.  Coached by Mark Hoekstra and assisted by current head coach Bret Gosch, the team also featured Big 8 All-Conference honorees Nick Ross, Chad Snyder, Bryan Moss, Isaiah Bayse and Joel Blackburn.

 

In a September 5, 2003 article in the Springfield News-Leader, a story ran including the following excerpt:

For three towns ravaged by the tornadoes of May 4, things may never completely get back to 'normal.'

But at Stockton and Carl Junction tonight and Pierce City next Friday, communities can again find a familiar rallying point in football.

"It was a terrible thing for the community to have to go through," said Stockton athletic director Jason Vaughn. "We're excited to have our fans come back here and see things get a little closer to what they were.

"As you see things being rebuilt around town and hear people talk, you get a sense that it's getting better."

All three schools experienced damage to their football fields, with Carl Junction being forced to move across the Kansas state line tonight to play Willow Springs at Pittsburg State University in the home opener.

"We're doing things now to get the new stadium ready for our game against Lamar (on Sept. 26)," said Carl Junction athletic director Mike Larson. "I'm holding my breath that we can get everything put together by then.

"We started in July and we've been putting in the irrigation and sod, putting up the lights and we're just setting up the bleachers today."

Larson said Carl Junction's press box and scoreboard were destroyed by the tornadoes at the old field.

Richard Kutz, Pierce City Athletic Director, said the community is ready to get back to football.

"It'll help get everyone's mind off the devastation," he said.
Synthetic grass installed at CJHS
By Joe Hadsall, The Joplin Globe

Carl Junction senior Ryan Fullerton has played football on synthetic turf in three states. He has been on fields at Webb City, Missouri Southern State University, Kansas University and the University of Arkansas. And he thinks the best synthetic turf surface is the one at home.

“This is the nicest one I’ve seen,” Fullerton said. “It feels great.”

Workers completed most of the installation of synthetic turf at Bulldog Stadium this week. Though portions behind the end zone for track activities need to be finished, the field portion is completed and ready for football and soccer.

“This is a better surface than I anticipated,” said varsity football coach Bret Gosch. “All we’re doing now is waiting for administration to give the OK, so that the kids can test it out. They are excited.”

Fullerton plays wide receiver and defensive back on the football team. He said that players can make quicker cuts on the surface and won’t slip in wet weather.

The surface also benefits soccer athletes, said freshman Casey Shelley, who plays the fullback position on the soccer team.

“It’s pretty amazing stuff,” Shelley said. “It’s a lot softer and warmer than natural grass.”

The Carl Junction R-1 Board of Education agreed in December to purchase the surface in order to close down the junior high football field and construct new playground equipment.

The installation contract was awarded to General Sports Venue for $551,765. The firm installed AstroTurf GameDay XPE 42 at the field, which is the same synthetic turf being used at Drury University in Springfield.

The board in February borrowed $780,000 through a lease-purchase plan in order to finance the field and new playground.

Rainy weather has slowed construction considerably, Gosch said. Asphalt surfaces behind the end zone still need to be installed.

“We were hoping to host district track here,” Gosch said. “Had we not had the bad weather, we would have been done a month ago.”

Senior Joey Braeckel, who plays on the varsity football team, thinks the field will do more than please athletes.

“I think it will attract more fans to the games,” Braeckel said.
  

Bulldog Stadium as it appeared from 2003 to 2007,
prior to the installation of new turf