Oklahoma City-area high school football stadium rankings: No. 9, Midwest City

Midwest City High School football stadium (Rose Field) , Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009 Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman

Rose Field-Jim Darnell Stadium, Midwest City (Photo by Jim Beckel)

MIDWEST CITY—Here’s the second installment of our weekly series on the top 10 high school football stadiums in the Oklahoma City area.

The rankings were produced by Jason Kersey and I. We based our choices on facilities, uniqueness and home-field advantage.

We’ll unveil a new stadium every Tuesday, wrapping up with our pick as the top high school football stadium in the city area on Tuesday, Nov. 2.

No. 9 on the list is Midwest City’s Rose Field at Jim Darnell Stadium.

Why it’s on the list: Bomber Magic. Before the streak put together by Jenks and Tulsa Union over the last 15 seasons, Midwest City was the dominant program in the state’s top class. The Bombers have won five state titles, including the last two in 6A by a west-side team in 1994 and 1995. Over those two seasons, Midwest City won 28 consecutive games, becoming the first team to repeat in the state’s largest class in 20 years. Tradition is important for Midwest City and one of the most notable traditions for the Bombers has been the players painting their shoes gold during the playoffs.

The stadium is located in a neighborhood across SE 15th Street from Midwest City High School, giving it a unique neighborhood field. It’s also hard to escape the aviation theme there, as military planes routinely fly over the stadium, which is located on Lockheed Drive.

Named after: Oscar Rose and Jim Darnell. Rose was the first superintendent of the Mid-Del district. Rose State College is also named after Oscar Rose. Darnell coached Midwest City for 23 seasons, with a 184-51-11 record. He led the Bombers to the 1960 state title, four runner-up finishes and seven district titles. He never had a losing season and from 1964-75, the Bombers never lost more than two games a year. Darnell died in 2007 at age 78.

How to get there from downtown Oklahoma City: Take I-40 east to SE 15th Street. Take SE 15th Street east to Lockheed Drive. Turn right on Lockheed Drive. Continue on Lockheed Drive. Stadium is on right.

Midwest City’s 2011 remaining home schedule
Friday: Enid, 7 p.m.
Sept. 30: Putnam City North, 7 p.m.
Oct. 14: Choctaw, 7 p.m.
Oct. 28: Lawton Eisenhower, 7 p.m.
Nov. 4: Norman North, 7 p.m.