Panthers, stadium ready for debut

Covering Dallas, Monmouth, Independence, Falls City and surrounding areas since 1868

The football team will host Sisters on Friday, Sept. 3.

Photo by Sam Scott

Central players go through a tackling drill at midfield of the new Panther Stadium, which officially will be unveiled Friday, Sept. 3 when Sisters visits Independence.

Sam Scott

INDEPENDENCE -- Years of hoping, wishing and waiting will come to an end this week when Central High School opens its new Panther Stadium.

Years of the football team traveling to Western Oregon University and elsewhere to play "home" football games officially will come to an end Friday, Sept. 3 when the Panthers host Sisters in Panther Stadium.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. The day's festivities will begin with an intra-squad scrimmage by the girls soccer team at 1 p.m. The boys soccer team will host Elmira at 4 p.m.

"This is going to be a great opportunity for the community," CHS football coach and athletic director Shane Hedrick said. "We have invested a lot of time and energy into this facility. Now, we are able to stay at home. We're going to have three games out there that first day so we're going at it very quickly."

Central played home games on-campus for two seasons about six or seven years ago. But there were few if any bleachers and the overall conditions were Spartan at best.

The new stadium conversely has just about everything you could want in a high school facility -- an enclosed press box, covered seating, artificial turf and a spacious concession stand.

To try and reduce opening night jitters, Central players and coaches already have gone through a dress rehearsal.

"We had a very solid walk-through preparing for the game," Hedrick said. "We went out and lined up along the sideline and played the national anthem and everything. I wanted the kids to know this is what you're going to see, this is what you're going to hear, this is what you're going to feel. We wanted to get those thoughts and feelings into their minds."

Sisters played in seven state championship games and won five from 1957-2007. The Outlaws currently are in rebuilding mode after the return of coach Bob Macauley and have missed the playoffs the past two seasons.

Photo by Sam Scott

Central coach Shane Hedrick makes a point during practice Aug. 30 at the new Panther Stadium. CHS and the stadium will make their debuts Friday, Sept. 3 against visiting Sisters.

Central was ranked No. 2 in the state for most of last season but graduated 18 seniors off that group.

"In the last couple of years Sisters has gone through a coaching transition," Hedrick said. "The coach who had big-time success there stepped down, and then last year he came back. They had a big turnaround right away in terms of being successful. They had fallen off the radar a little bit since the time they were playing for a state title about every other year.

"We know they're going to be a well-coached team. We know they spend a lot of time working in the summer. They're not a team that likes to hold the ball. They like to put it in the air and do lots of things. We'll have our work cut out for us."

Central and Sisters both have been extremely limited in preparation time prior to the season opener. The Oregon School Activities Association altered its postseason procedures, which in turn caused a time crunch at the beginning of the season. Teams that open this week will have had nine days of practices prior to kickoff.

"That's a very fast period of time to get ready for a game that has as much significance as this one," Hedrick said. "Because of the rating system they're using now, all of the games count. It doesn't matter whether it's a league game or not.

"One thing we know about this (Central) football team is that we have a great group of kids with tremendous work ethic and character. We've got some holes to fill, but the kids we'll be putting on the field have great character and work ethic. We feel good about that."