Oklahoma City-area high school football stadium rankings: No. 8, Taft Stadium
BY RYAN ABER
raber@opubco.com
Here’s the third 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 me. We based out 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. 8 on the list is Oklahoma City’s Taft Stadium.
Why it’s on the list: The current disrepair of Taft Stadium is sad given the history of the place. The stadium has played host to a handful of the top high school football games in state history, bowl games and even auto racing. Built in 1934, Taft Stadium was home to the 1944 Bedlam game, where Bob Fennimore scored OSU’s only offensive touchdown and the Cowboys beat OU 28-6. That was a big year for Taft. On Oct. 20, 1944, the stadium hosted Central’s 6-6 tie with Classen in front of more than 18,000 fans. Classen advanced to the playoffs with a late penetration to win the tiebreaker and went on to win the state title. In the 90s, Grambling, coached by the legendary Eddie Robinson, played Langston at the Stadium. It’s also been home to several professional football and soccer teams. The stonework of the stadium, especially on its imposing facade give it an impressive visage. Unfortunately, the stadium is crumbling. A new track was added in 1999. Since then, there have been plenty of attempts to renovate the stadium but the stadium still sits in disrepair. It hosts Northwest and John Marshall games and a host of freshman and junior high games.
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