Smaller is better: Players, coach like cozy atmosphere at Shrine Bowl

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Wofford College’s Gibbs Stadium doesn’t come close to matching the size of its counterparts at North Carolina’s two largest universities.

That’s a good thing when it comes to high school games, according to two local players and a coach who experienced both this postseason.

Lincolnton running back Dee Littlejohn, Crest lineman Dylan Hopper and Crest coach Mark Barnes said after competing in Saturday’s Shrine Bowl at Gibbs Stadium that they preferred that venue over the much large state championship sites they experienced two weeks earlier.

“This was packed like it was a high school game, like it was a game at our stadium,” Littlejohn said.

Attendance for Saturday’s game was announced as 8,900. The Wofford website lists Gibbs Stadium’s capacity at 8,500, with an additional 4,500 seats available in each end zone.

More than six crowds of Saturday’s size could fit inside N.C. State’s Carter-Finley Stadium (capacity 57,583) or the University of North Carolina’s Kenan Stadium (capacity 62,980), two of the three state championship sites used by the N.C. High School Athletic Association. The third is Wake Forest’s BB&T Field, which seats 31,500.

Littlejohn and the Wolves played in the 2A state championship at Carter-Finley Stadium on Dec. 3. A night earlier, Crest played in the 3AA state title game in Kenan Stadium.

“I’ve played in Chapel Hill, I’ve played in State and you know Charger Nation — we’re coming,” Barnes said. “We’re there and there’s a bunch of people there, but it doesn’t look like there’s a bunch of people there. Today’s environment (at Gibbs) was much, much better than that.”

The attendances of the state championship games earlier this month were not available. Lincolnton fans packed their homes games all season, and Littlejohn knows they made the trip to Raleigh. It just didn’t look like the same crowd.

“They were so spread out, you couldn’t really tell,” Littlejohn said.

The largest high school stadiums in Gaston County seat around 5,000, and only the biggest games produce overflow crowds.

Barnes suggested N.C. A&T University’s Aggie Stadium (capacity 21,500), Charlotte Memorial Stadium (capacity 21,000) and Elon University’s Rhodes Stadium (capacity 13,000) as alternative state title game sites.

“There’s a bunch of those places where you could go play a state championship game and it feel like it was (Saturday),” Barnes said.

Coaches have highlighted the positive aspects of playing at the big stadiums, saying it’s neat for the players to step foot on an ACC field, something they might not otherwise have an opportunity to do.

Littlejohn also praised N.C. State’s facilities but said Wofford was better suited for a high school game. Crest defensive end Jonathan Bullard also competed in the Shrine Bowl and has played in two state championship games but was not asked of his thoughts on the topic.

Barnes, a former president of the N.C. Football Coaches Association, said that although the coaches have voiced concerns over other matters involving the state championships, they haven’t suggested that the N.C. High School Athletic Association move its state title games to smaller venues.

Barnes was clear, however, that he felt the Shrine Bowl was played in an ideal setting for high school football.

“I think it feels like a Friday night at your place or a Friday night at somebody else’s place,” Barnes said. “We played at Charlotte Catholic, man, you’re talking about a great environment. … everybody’s there and they’re right on top of you and the excitement level of the player goes up because there’s more crowd involvement. It’s just more like a football game.”

Phillip Gardner: 704-869-1843; twitter.com/gazettephil