Something is missing for Thursday night high school football games

Segerstrom takes the field for last Thursday’s game with Troy in Fullerton.

A few weeks into the season, we’ve already noticed that Thursday night high school football is definitely not the same as Friday night football.

Something is missing: the fans which definitely takes away from the atmosphere we typically see on Friday nights.

We know why there are so many Thursday night games.

There aren’t enough stadiums in Orange County for all the games to be played on Friday nights.

But we’re sure it’s disappointing for football players and coaches to look up and see hundreds, and sometimes less fans in the stands rooting them on.

The players and coaches put a lot of work into preparation into the game and fan support is important.

Hats off to the fans who do come out on Thursday nights. It’s a tough night. People are working trying to make ends meet and schools are in session Friday night. The games often run close to three hours long which means the students are getting home late and being asked to get up early the next day.

It’s a dilemma for the teams who use the stadiums at Fred Kelley Stadium, the Fullerton Union School District Stadium and the Santa Ana teams who share Santa Ana Valley, Century and Segerstrom.

The Irvine Unified School District pretty much solved the problem when a new on-campus stadium was built at University High a few years ago. University and Woodbridge play there now.

Before that, Northwood, Irvine, University and Woodbridge shared Irvine Stadium and there were a lot of Thursday night games played in front of mainly small crowds.

Now, Northwood, Irvine and Crean Lutheran play at Irvine Stadium. Crean Lutheran plays some of its games at Portola when the Big I is occupied.

Portola has its own on-campus stadium and there are rarely any games played in Irvine on Thursday nights.

Nothing like Friday night high school football. There is tremendous excitement on and off the field.

Thursday night football is a different story.

So, the better option might be playing some of these games on Saturday afternoons or Saturday nights.

It’s worth a try.

What do you think? We welcome your thoughts and suggestions.

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone