Texas' other 20,000-seat stadium reopens Thursday night after getting a year with $11 million in renovations. The "Stadium next to the 500-foot tall Radio Tower" will have wider concourses, easier accessibility and lots of updates to a historic stadium which opened in 1976 at a total cost of about $3 million. Of course, Allen's $60 million, 18-000-seat stadium has gotten lots of attention since it opened three years ago.
"It just feels like a high school stadium ought to feel like," Mesquite Horn coach Mike Overton, former West Mesquite coach.
Throwback Thursday #tbt As Mesquite and Mesquite Horn meet at Memorial Stadium on Thursday night, we take a look back at some of the stadium's most memorable games. Happy 39th Birthday Mesquite Memorial Stadium:
1. Odessa Permian vs. North Mesquite, 1996: Signaling the transition of dominating football prowess to North Texas, the No. 1-ranked Stallions dominate West Texas's No. 2-ranked Permian, 27-0, before an overflow crowd of 21,000.
2. Allen 42, DeSoto, 35, 2013: State semifinal is integral part of legend of Kyler Murray with a 24-yard TD run with 11 seconds left in a 22-point 4Q rally.
3. Mesquite vs. North Mesquite, 2001: The Skeeters' undefeated state championship season included another packed-house thriller vs. cross-town rival North Mesquite, which is the reason MISD needed to build such a big place to play in the first place.
4. The Punt Return, 2007 : Plano's Superman _ ie. Rex Burkhead _ leads upset over Skyline with 65-yard punt return which rates as one of early youtube sensations with 30,000 views in a week.
5. Gilmer 42, Roosevelt 36, 2007: Lord knows the sensation it would create nowadays. After a GREAT Game, Gilmer held on to a 42-36 win over Roosevelt in a Class 3A playoff match up with a melee of emotions and scuffling ensuing just after the final whistle. Mesquite, Dallas and Gilmer ISD officials were, in fact, credited with having enough experienced personnel on hand for a late Saturday night game to control the flareup before escalating.
6. Battle of 30-0 Unbeatens, 2005: Celina's fourth-quarter touchdown edged Omaha Paul Pewitt, 21-14, in a showdown of 15-0 records for the Class 2A state title. Celina, which was the subject of the 2010 Kenny Chesney country hit (The Boys of Fall) was at its heyday as a football power with its on-field success and the inspiring story of former TCU player Kent Waldrep (paralyzed during a game at Alabama) having his sons Trey and Charley playing in the Bobcats' program in the 2000s.
7. First game of Tom Landry Classic, 2000: Poteet defeated Ennis in a season opener just before the Lions would go on to back-to back state titles with a freshman QB that 2000 season, future record-setting Graham Harrell.
8. North Mesquite and Garland: In 2002, met as state-ranked, undefeated district foes in Week 9 before another capacity crowd. The November atmosphere perfectly captured the ongoing passion of neighboring communities on Friday nights. 100-year-old Garland won 24-12 by the way.
9. The beginning: Allen started its 3-year consecutive state title streak with a critical regional championship win against Skyline. One-time Garland assistant, Allen coach Tom Westerberg has plenty of big Memorial Stadium moments, including a 2008 first-round win over South Grand Prairie at Memorial to start Allen's state championship run that season.
10. Mesquite vs. North Mesquite, Nov. 6, 2015 (Check it out this year): Doesn't always fill 20,000 but 10,000 showed up two years ago for a fantastic finish with Mesquite winning in the final minute of 2013. Former MISD AD and Mesquite coach Mickey Delamar remembers a 7-0 win during his tenure with Skeeters in 1993 and old-timers remember 1983 when it ended 0-0 and Mesquite advanced to the one-team per district state playoffs with a more first downs tiebreaker.
