Kickin’ it: High school football returns to ‘The Joe’

HUNTSVILLE — Is the return of high school football Friday night to Joe Davis Stadium homecoming for the Hazel Green Trojans?

Sort of, though that could be a reach.

Hazel Green (0-1) and Grissom (0-1) will both seek their first win of the season when the two collide at Wicks Family Field at revamped Joe Davis Stadium at 7 p.m.

The stadium underwent a facelift in lieu of demolition and is now the home of the
professional soccer club Huntsville City FC. Before this year “The Joe,” original version opening in 1985, previously was home to the Minor League Baseball Huntsville Stars.

Now, reconfigured as a rectangular arena that will house multi-sports and other events, Wicks Family Field will see high school football on the grounds for the first time in years when Grissom and Hazel Green collide.

The homecoming angle for Hazel Green, which sits on the north side of the city limits?

The Trojans, who at the time, didn’t have seating capacity at their home stadium to satisfy state association requirements in 1998, “hosted” Jacksonville in a playoff loss.

A quarter of a (new) century later, the landscape is much different. The Stars left, the local
baseball team is the Trash Pandas playing at Toyota Field in Madison, and “The Joe” is
certainly not the same.

Chad Emerson, managing director of business operations for Huntsville City FC, said Wicks Family Field marries old with new.

In 1985, Joe Davis Stadium was considered the minor league’s showcase facility. Things
changed, the stadium went empty and then a new project emerged with Huntsville FC. But the stadium, which once hosted Alabama A&M football as well as high school football and baseball games, was given a reprieve

“There’s a modern overlay with that of nostalgia,’’ said Emerson.

Huntsville City Schools continue to play at Milton Frank Stadium and Alabama A&M. But for the first time in recent history, teams in the Rocket City have another, albeit once old and tired but now contemporary and energized, place to call home.

“We’ve always said this is not just a soccer field,’’ Emerson said. “It’s a community gathering place.’’