Football attendance nearly 4,000

Based on gate receipts, nearly 4,000 fans squeezed into Nunley Stadium on Friday, creating what is believed to be the largest local football crowd in over 25 years.

While Warren County High School athletic director Andy Jacobs said he doesn’t have an exact attendance figure, he says between 3,500 and 4,000 people is accurate.

‘Based on the money we collected, it was probably closer to 4,000,’ said Jacobs. ‘I’d say this is right up there with the Father Ryan game. I knew we were going to have a big crowd. But when I looked up and the first quarter was nearly over and they were still lined up to get through the front gate, I knew it was going to be humongous.’

Warren County’s classic 1980 battle with Father Ryan is widely regarded by Pioneer faithful as the most heavily attended game in school history. It matched two undefeated teams, No. 2 ranked Warren County against No. 3 ranked Father Ryan, in a game Father Ryan won, 9-8.

Jacobs said it was the same type of atmosphere Friday night.

‘To look around and see people sitting everywhere, it was something special,’ said Jacobs. ‘And it’s the hard work of the players and the coaches that got us to this point. I’ve had entire seasons, some of those lean years, where we didn’t bring in as much as we did Friday night.’

The gate money goes into a general WCHS athletic department fund to help all school sports programs. There is no charge to see some team sports like tennis and golf, but those teams still have travel expenses and other bills to pay.