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Last updated 5:52 pm CT November 20, 2009.
High School Football Succeeds Against Rainy Weather
Well before game-time at Du Quoin, crews at Van Metre field did what they could Saturday morning to dry out the stadium.
"By game-time, this will look a lot different," says Du Quoin's athletic director John Campbell.
But to ensure the best playing surface by kickoff, Campbell had to call in some air support.
"You've heard the rumor yes it's true, we've got a helicopter coming in here," Campbell said.
Around four hours before the 1 o'clock kickoff, a bell jet helicopter flew up and down Van Metre field. Using the large wind-gusts from it's propellers to help dry the playing surface, a spectacle that many people came out to watch.
"We joked around yesterday and said if we gave free tickets away for the space shuttle take off, or the helicopter landing here at Van Metre, everybody in Du Quoin's going to come to Van Metre and that's all there is to it," said Campbell.
Meanwhile in Carterville, a line of buses waited at John A. Logan to transport people to and from the game.
"The parking area is really muddy, so they decided to bring everybody over here to John A. Logan and we're transporting them," said Carterville bus driver Danny Steinmetz.
Folks from Anna-Jonesboro who made the trip up for the game against the Lions, say it's much appreciated.
"That's really good of Carterville to do that, because we, I do like to park up you know at the game because we get there very early, but it's a nice service they're doing today," said Anna resident Eric Massey.
And it's because of those efforts, families got to fill the bleachers to watch their kids tackle the first round of football playoffs.
By Andy Waterman
awaterman@wsiltv.com
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