Hawks will finally have the chance to play under their own lights

HOUSTON — Since the Houston Hawks football squad first took the field in 1998, the Hawks have always been relegated to playing their home games on Saturday afternoons.

But this fall it will finally be time to turn on the Friday night lights at Houston High.

“It puts us on par with what other schools already have,” Houston head coach Norm Bouchard recently.

In Bouchard’s eyes, this is long overdue. After years of waiting, stadium lights were installed in April and HHS officials will have the chance to flip the switch on game nights when the 2011 season starts in August.

“It’s what people are used to. It’ll create a spotlight for the players, rather than just having a game on a Saturday afternoon,” Bouchard said.

Bouchard said the process of gathering the funding to pay for the project started back in 2004. State Rep. Charlie Huggins originally championed the project, and Rep. Mark Neuman was also key in terms of seeing this project completed, Bouchard said.

“They were an incredible part of making this happen,” Bouchard said of the local representatives. “We want to thank them for everything they did getting the lights on.”

Money for the project comes from state funding, but not all came at the same time. Bouchard said funding was awarded in chunks before the final sum could be attained.

Houston is slated to host Kodiak during the opening week of the 2011 season. That game is currently scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 13. Bouchard said if travel arrangements can be made, Kodiak could still hit the Valley for a Friday, Aug. 12 game.

Currently, the first game scheduled to be played under Houston’s new lights is Aug. 19 against Soldotna.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/matsu_sports.