By HARVEY SIMPSON
Dispatch Sports Editor
CORDELE — With tickets to Friday’s Class A state championship game between Wilcox and ECI, selling like hot cakes on a cold January morning, the decision has been made to move the contest here. Kickoff time remains at 8 p.m.
“When we realized how high the ticket demand was golng to be in both communities involved, our administration felt the best option was to move the game to a location we felt would still seem almost like a home game and Cordele was the perfect spot,” Patriot coach Mark Ledford said.
“If we can’t play in Rochelle, Cordele is about as close as we can get to it. Plus, it’s a great stadium. Our kids are comfortable playing there (having visited Crisp in each of the last two years for preseason scrimmages) and are familiar with the surroundings.”
Georgia High School Association representative Steve Figueroa said the state fire marshal’s was going to cut ticket sales off at 5,000 had the game stayed in Rochelle.
That would have meant a lot of fans would not have gotten to attend the contest and over half that number fortunate enough to be in attendance would have been forced to stand since Donnie Clack Stadium only seats 2,088.
“That’s another reason we seriously began to consider moving the game,” Ledford said. “We didn’t want any of our fans and family members to miss out on the opportunity to witness the first football state championship game in the 52-year history of our school.”
Both schools initially sold out their allotted 2,000 tickets and were later given another 500 due but still could not meet the demand.
In Wilcox’s case, about half of its first 2,000 tickets were actually purchased by fans from neighboring counties which meant some of the Patriot players had family members who were without tickets.
“There were also going to be many members of both communities who had supported the teams all year long but were not going to be able to get into the stadium and we didn’t want that to happen either.”
With Crisp County’s Cougar Den having a capacity in excess of 5,600, most of the seating problems have been resolved. However, there still figures to be a lot of fans standing as Ledford said from all indications the game may draw as many as 8-10,000 spectators.
“With two good teams playing each other and with only one other Friday night game on tap (in Waycross where AAAA Ware County hosts Northside Warner Robins), fans from numerous south and middle Georgia cities are expected to attend our game,” Ledford said.
To familiarize Patriot players with the game setting, Ledford plans to send the Patriots through their normal Thursday walk-through session at the Crisp County stadium today.
An unlimited amount of game tickets will be available at the stadium for $10 each. Gates will open at 5 p.m.
