Edwardsville opens new field in style

Edwardsville sophomore running back Reggie Box enjoyed his first start on the Tiger Stadium new synthetic turf so much that he and his Tiger teammates might just become spoiled by it.

Box scooted into the end zone on his first three carries of the game on touchdown runs of 9, 22, and 32 yards, as the Tigers hung a 49-0 shutout on an over-matched and outgunned Chicago Corliss squad Friday night.

"I was going for four (touchdowns) but I couldn't get it," said Box. "I have to thank my blockers. They're the best, they got me the holes, and I did my best to run through them for touchdowns."For Box's part, running on the newly installed Tiger Turf that was laid down in May was pretty much like running on a smooth, spongy carpet.

"Oh yeah, it's real good turf," said Box. "I like it, it gives you a good grip when you run on it."

Box wasn't the only Tiger that enjoyed getting to break in the new turf in game action. The Tigers started the season with a 29-7 win at Springfield Southeast.

Starting quarterback Ishmiah Roundtree, who scored on an 8-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter, was also singing praises about the new turf.

"I enjoyed playing on it and the all of the guys really seem to like the surface," said Roundtree. "It was not that hard to get used to it because we spent the summer practicing on it so that gave us a chance to get used to it."

Edwardsville rolled up 306 yards of total offense while holding the Trojans to just 15 total yards on the night.

The Tigers' new turf was installed over an 8-week period beginning in May.

At the time of installation, the turf was placed over a 10-inch bed of loose 3/4-inch gravel which was then put in with a layer of padding and ground rubber in the fibers of the turf.

According to Edwardsville athletic director Brad Bevis, the turf was installed in order for the school and the sports complex to be able to handle more school and community sports events.

So far, the field has been quite popular with the youth football and soccer leagues in the area.

"We've already got four football games and a soccer game booked for next week," Bevis said. "On a week like we had this week with the rain those schools that have grass fields might have had to cancel because of potential field damage. With this field, weather is never an issue because it drains very well."

The Tiger Turf field is manufactured by "Tiger Turf" of Texas and was installed for $700,000.

"That was a good price to get it at given the current economic conditions and we felt that we would get a lot of good use out of it," Bevis said.

A 12-15 year life span is the norm for this type of synthetic field and so far Edwardsville is pleased with the investment in the new Tiger Turf.

"The biggest thing we'll be curious to see is just how much life we get out of the field over time," said Bevis.

Edwardsville Journal story