Caledonia Argus

New field ushers in new era

Posted: 8/26/03

by Andrew Miller
Argus News Reporter

A new chapter of Caledonia High School football begins this Friday when the team plays its first home game on the new field along Warrior Avenue.

With the move, the team leaves behind its previous home field at Veterans Memorial Park, where for almost five full decades Warrior football played its games under the Friday night lights.

ìThereís a lot of good memories from that field,î said Bob Stark, Caledonia football coach from 1951 to 1967. When Stark became head coach in 1951, the teamís home field was at Veterans Memorial Park, but the field wasnít situated in its current spot at the parkñ it was close to where the city swimming pool is now.

Prior to this, the team played home games at the George Metcalf farm along Cty. Road 12. The farm had a golf course on the land, and the football field was located on the course. The golf course was plowed and crops were planted to support the war effort in the early 1940s, according to local sports historian Bud Marnach, so the team moved its home games out to the fairgrounds. The Warriors moved from the fairgrounds to the original field at Veterans Memorial Park in 1943.

The grass on that first field at the park, Stark recalled, was high and unkempt, and there was only one set of uprights, so the team made an extra set. Games were played in the afternoon, because there were no lights. Seating for spectators was sparse, and players sat in a couple of old dilapidated wooden baseball dugouts.

In 1954, construction began on the field at Veterans Memorial Park that would become the teamís home field for the next 48 years. At the time, the land was a cornfield, and funds were raised by the Athletic Booster Club to help foot the bill. In the fall of 1954, the Warriors played their home games in Spring Grove while work continued on the field in Caledonia. By 1955, the field was ready for action and the Warriors played their first game there.

The years that followed were big years for Caledonia football. Stark led the Warriors to conference championships in 1956, 1958, and 1962, and the team accomplished the rare feat of having a perfect record during the 1958 season. At the time, Caledonia was in a conference with Spring Grove, Mabel, Houston, Rushford, and Peterson, schools Stark remembers as bringing top-tier teams to the field each year.

ìThere was some darn good football at the time,î Stark said. ìWe were kind of a small school, but we always had quite a few kids come out.î

Stark relinquished the coaching position to Felix Percuoco in 1968. Ron Moen, who was an assistant coach under Percuoco and the teamís head coach from 1977-1988, remembers the mid-1970s as the golden age of Caledonia football, an era that reached its apogee when the team won the state title in 1976.

ìWinning state in 1976 is something Iíve always treasured,î Moen said. ìIf you could put that group together today, they could still play a rough game of football.î

In the years he coached, Moen added, îsome teams didnít have a great win-loss record, but boy, could they play some football. I have really fond memories throughout, whether the teams won or lost.î

Mark Froehling, one of Moenís assistant coaches, took over the head coach position in 1988. Current head coach Carl Fruechte, who took over for Froehling in the mid-1990s, looks forward to playing on the new field, but for him, as with other Warriors who spent countless Friday evenings at Veterans Memorial Park, the field the team is leaving triggers a fair share of nostalgia.

ìWhen you were growing up, you just wanted to get onto that main field because of all the history Caledonia football has,î Fruechte said. ìA lot of great players have come out of Caledonia High School and played on that field.î

The new field, though, can be seen as the continuation of a tradition, rather than the end of a tradition, Fruechte added.

ìWeíll continue to have the success weíve had, weíve just changed fields,î he noted. ìIíd like to get our school back to the state tournament, and the new facilities will definitely help.î

The field on which the Warriors will now play is a fine facility indeed. According to Ken Van Den Boom, athletic director for Caledonia Schools, fans and players alike will be pleased with the new facilities. Compared with the old field, the new field has more seatingñ the bleachers can hold roughly 800 peopleñ better and more consistent lighting, and blacktop along the sidelines that will minimize muddiness. The press box features the modern conveniences of electricity and windowsñ at the old field, wood slats were removed from the front of the press box during the gameñ and the scoreboard is operated by remote control.

Check out the new field and facilities when the Warriors face Dover-Eyota in their home opener this Friday at 7 p.m. Itís Alumni Appreciation Night, so all former players, managers, cheerleaders and coaches from Caledonia High School and Loretto High get in free.

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