The Best of Friday Night Lights - San Pedro High School

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The Best of Friday Night Lights: Our favorite places in SoCal to watch high school football ? Orange County Register

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The Best of Friday Night Lights: Our favorite places in SoCal to watch high school football

The Best of Friday Night Lights: Our favorite places in SoCal to watch high school football

By STAFF REPORT |

PUBLISHED: August 17, 2019 at 11:23 pm | UPDATED: August 17, 2019 at 11:23 pm



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The Best of Friday Night Lights: Our favorite places in SoCal to watch high school football ? Orange County Register

The Southern California News Group's High School Football Preview magazine is included for subscribers in its editions of the Sunday, Aug. 18 paper. Copies of the magazine may also be purchased at the office of your local SCNG newspaper.

Where are the best places ? we're talking about best setting, best pregame, best fan experience, and so on ? to watch a high school football game these days in Southern California?

We asked the Southern California reporters to share their favorite spots with our readers.

Your favorite place to watch a game on Friday nights?



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The Best of Friday Night Lights: Our favorite places in SoCal to watch high school football ? Orange County Register David Carr: How brother Derek is reacting to A.B.'s release

FRED ROBLEDO

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There's nothing like the experience of watching a Friday night game at Bishop Amat's Kiefer Stadium.

You want to feel like you're in some small town in middle America where football is king? Looking for a Friday night thrill spot where old school is still old school?

Bishop Amat is that place.

You can feel the history of the school's five championship teams from the 1960s through the 1990s because Kiefer Stadium hasn't changed that much over the decades, and that's part of its charm.

In a day and age when practically every high school has rebuilt its stadium and field over the last decade with metal stands and pretty artificial surfaces, Bishop Amat remains loyal to its past and the intimacy that comes with it.



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The Best of Friday Night Lights: Our favorite places in SoCal to watch high school football ? Orange County Register

You're on top of the action in old, wooden bleachers that snuggle up against the field, and the Lancers play on good, old-fashioned grass, which makes them one of the few schools left in the area that plays on natural turf. You want a mudder on a rainy night? Bishop Amat can deliver it for you.

Although Bishop Amat hasn't won a CIF-SS championship since 1995, its fan base is as strong as ever.

Lots of fans arrive early and park on Orange Avenue, tailgating for hours before they make their way into the stadium. By the time kickoff rolls around, finding a place to sit can be a chore.

The end zone seating section is filled with loud students, and the concessions around the stadium rival what you will find anywhere. There are In-N-Out trucks, kettle corn and a seemingly endless choices of food stands and trucks.

From kickoff until the final whistle, you won't find another Friday night football spot that delivers like Kiefer.

? Fred Robledo

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TAREK FATTAL

If you're familiar with the 101 freeway as it winds through Westlake Village, you know where the Oaks Christian football team plays its home games. If you're not familiar, passing the Oaks Christian campus might make you ponder if that's a small college located just off the freeway.

Oaks Christian's short, but rich, football history makes it one of Southern California's most electric places to cover a high school football game. The Lions have sent hordes of players to the NCAA Division I ranks and some have made it to the NFL.

For the past two seasons, Oaks Christian has been the team to beat in its part of L.A. County.

One of the area's most memorable games in recent years happened at Oaks Christian on Nov. 24, 2017. The Lions' Nate Lenthall ran right by me as I stood on the sideline recording his every step as he returned an interception 95 yards for a touchdown with no time left ? a walk-off moment so to speak. The victory gave Oaks Christian a berth to the CIF-SS Division 2 final.

The great play on the field is always met with a great buzz from the fans and students.



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The Best of Friday Night Lights: Our favorite places in SoCal to watch high school football ? Orange County Register

? Tarek Fattal

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DAN ALBANO

My favorite stadium for covering a game is Handel Stadium on the campus of Western High in Anaheim.

The stadium is not my pick because of the aesthetics. It scores points for the setting and substance.

The older venue offers a simple appearance with a seating capacity of about 5,000. The bleachers on the visitor's side can look a bit desolate at times depending on the matchup.

And the grass surface is often worn down from the heavy use by multiple schools. The stadium is home to several Orange County teams. But Handel Stadium offers sportswriters, and fans, a game setting that makes it an enjoyable destination.

The sight lines are excellent for spectators. The scoreboard is large and easy to read.

All the amenities hold up with a large crowd.

The stadium's atmosphere is enhanced by its proximity to Knott's Berry Farm. Spectators seated high enough can gaze past the palm trees on the visitor's side to catch the theme park's lights.

The view is just another reminder that it's Friday night in Orange County.

-Dan Albano

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The Best of Friday Night Lights: Our favorite places in SoCal to watch high school football ? Orange County Register

Norco's DEN gets load as they support their team against Centennial in the first half of the Big VIII League football game in Norco on Friday, October 12, 2018. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

ERIC-PAUL JOHNSON

"WE ARE ... NORCO!"

That is the chant bellowed by fans whenever the Norco football team scores, and it is one of many things that make Gary Campbell Field a special place to be on Friday night.

The Inland Empire has experienced tremendous growth the past couple of decades, so there are only a couple of cities that remain a one-high school town. Norco is one of them.

The Norco football program has a rich history -- the Cougars have qualified for the CIF-SS playoffs in 32 consecutive seasons (an area record) and won five section titles. The home bleachers usually are packed with fans young and old, and a few people still park on the road above the stadium to take in a game.

Norco's rustic setting can make for unusual sites. I remember the first time I covered a game at the stadium. I parked on Temescal Avenue and started to make the walk up to the field. I stopped after a few steps because two people rode up alongside me and hitched their horses to a post outside the school. That's not something you see every day.

Norco is one of the few spots where you still sense an old-school football vibe on Friday nights, and that unique experience can be summed up with those three words.



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The Best of Friday Night Lights: Our favorite places in SoCal to watch high school football ? Orange County Register

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A Santa Ana fan waves a school flag during the CIF-SS Division 12 quarterfinals game against Godinez at Santa Ana Stadium in Santa Ana on Friday, Nov. 17, 2017. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Contributing Photographer)

STEVE FRYER

My favorite football stadium for a high school football game is Santa Ana Stadium.

"The Bowl" as (us) old-timers call it was the first place I attended an organized sports event of any sort or level.

It was Mater Dei vs. Servite, either 1964 or '65. I went with my parents. I remember it was a big deal that we got tickets.

Santa Ana Stadium holds about 9,000 spectators. The first version of the The Bowl, made of wood, was finished in 1930. In 1963 it was replaced at the same location by the current concrete version.

With no running track around the field, all of the seats are close to the field. A parking structure next to the stadium makes it an easy-access venue.

Renovations several years ago included the installation of a synthetic field that is one of the better artificial-turf surfaces in Orange County.



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The Best of Friday Night Lights: Our favorite places in SoCal to watch high school football ? Orange County Register

I almost chose La Habra High's stadium, but Santa Ana has a sentimental edge. Thalassa Stadium, at San Clemente High, is a splendid setting, too. ? Steve Fryer ?????? ?????? ??????

Mike Walsh addresses the crowd at the football game as the field is named after him during a half time ceremony Friday, September 28, 2018 in San Pedro. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)

DAMIAN CALHOUN

It would be difficult to pick one spot, so I will go with games at Banning and San Pedro high schools.

What makes both spots so special is the tight-knit community vibe that you get at both locations.

Walking into a San Pedro game at the newly-named Mike Walsh Stadium, you can feel the history. It is old-school football, from the grass field to the small parking lot ... because who drives to a San Pedro game?

The only difference at Banning is the playing surface. The Pilots play on turf, which has been resurfaced for the 2019 season.

Fans are lined up early to get into the stadium at Banning. And, of course, you can't go wrong with the Banning High Mighty Marching Pilots band and drill team as it leads the team onto the field.



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