Return of Friday night football remains important to Sanborn Central community

Sep. 25—FORESTBURG, S.D. — The Friday night lights will be shining bright this week in Forestburg.

For the first time since 2022, the Woonsocket/Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central football team will play a varsity game at Sanborn Central, which will take place at 7 p.m. Friday when the Bucks host Wagner.

Sanborn Central High School's football field has been out of service for the past few years as improvements and the subsequent re-seeding of its surface took longer than expected.

Sanborn Central Superintendent Corey Flatten, who previously coached the WWSSC football team before becoming an administrator, said playing games in Forestburg remains a "very important" aspect to the students and community members in the school district.

"We take so much pride in our community. We have Artesian, Letcher and Forestburg, and we're right in the middle," Flatten said. "The school is the heart of our community. It's something that so many people care about."

The co-op — which spans 35 miles from Artesian to Wessington Springs — has been together since 2007 and moved to 11-man football in 2017. In past years, Wessington Springs hosted two of the four varsity home games and all playoff games, while the other two games were held at Sanborn Central. That arrangement is back for the 2025 season, with the first two games this season in Wessington Springs and WWSSC also playing rival Mount Vernon/Plankinton in Forestburg on Oct. 1.

Games at Sanborn Central stopped in 2023 when the school district installed a new irrigation system for the field, but regrowing the field never took off due to seed and soil issues. That moved all games to Wessington Springs.

For the Forestburg field, it turns out that the sandy soil that the Forestburg area is famous for — it's great for growing melons — made it hard to regrow a consistent playing surface. This year, a group effort with local businesses, school staff and volunteers took on the re-seeding, fertilizing, spraying and soil sampling that has helped get the field into playing condition, according to

the Sanborn Weekly Journal

.

"When we have events, we take a lot of pride in how it brings all of our community together," Flatten said. "It's a great meeting place for our community. When you don't have football, you don't have that on Friday nights. That's been of huge importance. I think by having football games back here, it gives us another chance where we can celebrate our community."

Friday night's game happens to be a huge matchup in Class 11B, with both teams undefeated. Wagner comes in at 5-0, while WWSSC is 4-0. It is also Sanborn Central's homecoming celebration, and the Sanborn Central/Woonsocket FFA is sponsoring a tailgate party before the game with hamburger and hot dog meals being sold.

Even before the work on the field, the school district was investing in improving the stadium, which included a new seating and press box structure, new sound system and improved lights. The field is also being used for junior high and junior varsity games in the co-op.

"We're definitely committed to having games there," Flatten said.