I made it out to Colon L. Hall stadium in Great Bridge for the Friday night high school football game between the Oscar Smith Tigers and the Great Bridge Wildcats. Great Bridge’s stadium had undergone renovations and it was finally complete. I have to say the stadium looks really good now. I want to say it was originally built in 1962. Made completely out of cinder blocks and concrete, it had suffered from neglect and black mold for years. They gutted and ripped out a lot of the back wall and replaced it with steel beams.
Oscar Smith has been a power since the early 2000s and has won state championships in 2008, 2011, 2020 and 2021. Great Bridge was a very good football program from the late 1950s through the late 1980s but since then has seen only sporadic success. But with a new coach, and coming off a big win in their opening week, Great Bridge might be returning to respectability.
Great Bridge has better talent on the field this year, but it will take a while to build up this program. Unfortunately, Oscar Smith had superior speed and size and had no trouble with them on Friday night.
Oscar Smith takes hosts Nansemond River on September 19th while Great Bridge hosts another strong football team, King’s Fork.
If you are interested in purchasing any photos from the game, visit the gallery here.
Meanwhile, enjoy the slide show.