Mansfield School Committee OKs Football Trip to Syracuse

After practicing at Syracuse University’s Carrier Dome last year, the Mansfield High football team will be getting a chance to play a real game there this year.

Mansfield will play Christian Brothers Academy of Syracuse either Friday, Sept. 9, or Saturday, Sept. 10 as part of the Kickoff Classic sponsored by New York Chapter of the National Football Foundation. It will be the first indoor game for the Hornets.

By a 5-0 vote, the Mansfield School Committee gave its approval to a September trip to the upstate New York campus, which won’t be paid with school funds. Instead, the football team’s costs are being covered by the Mansfield Gridiron Club and the parents of the football players.  Mansfield head football coach Mike Redding expects the cost to be $150 to $175 per player.

"I believe it is a great opportunity," said Redding. "This is a high level of competition. Christian Brothers is an outstanding program.

"We are getting to play in a nationally ranked facility at the Carrier Dome. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity."

Time and day of the game is still up in the air as ESPN will be broadcasting the Syracuse-Rhode Island game. The Mansfield football team has been invited to the college game by the Syracuse coaching staff.

Redding is hoping for a Saturday night game for the Hornets, which would disrupted the school week the least. If they play on Friday, the Hornets will have to leave Thursday, while a Saturday game will allow for a Friday departure.

The head coach will be making a trip to Syracuse April 1for an orientation to the high school games at the Carrier Dome.

“I will have a chance to physically check out the hotels,” said Redding, who wants to check the neighborhoods the hotels are located in and the distance to the Carrier Dome.

Proceeds for the game benefit scholarships for high school students.

The Hornets are also looking at have dinner Friday on the Syracuse campus in the cafeteria.

“They will get a chance to be amongst college students and see a college on a Friday afternoon, “ said Redding. “

Mansfield was scheduled to open up the season at home against Aquinas Institute of Rochester, who defeated them, 32-5, last year in Rochester.

When Aquinas got invited to the play in the Kickoff Classic, they asked the Hornets to play them there. Redding didn't want to play another away game against Aquinas, which is only 100 miles away from the Carrier Dome.  After going back and forth between athletic directors, the game with Christian Brothers came about. 

After the trip to New York, the Hornets will start a two-year series with Needham with a road game Sept. 16. Barnstable has also been added to the schedule with a home game Oct. 28. In the 2012 season, Needham will play at Mansfield, while the Hornets will be taking a trip to the Cape to play Barnstable.