Two Lafayette Parish High Schools Finally Get Turf Football Fields

When the 2024 high school football season begins, both Acadiana and Northside High Schools will be playing on brand-new turf fields.

Northside's field is done while Acadiana has a couple of more weeks of construction before theirs is ready to go.

The turf project at Northside High in Lafayette was completed on Thursday, April 25, marking the first time in school history that the football field won't be natural grass.

In addition to the turf installation, the stadium's bleachers were also replaced with brand-new ones.

Next up for the school are more improvements including the gym bleachers being replaced and the construction of a new track building.

The turf installation at Acadiana High School's football field in Scott is underway and will be complete in the next couple of weeks.

Head football coach Matt McCollough tells us that "it is supposed to be done in about 15 days from now."

The football field where the six-time state championship Wreckin' Rams football team plays has also always been natural grass. While this is a big change, Coach McCollough is looking forward to it.

"It's going to be really nice," said McCollough.

And for the coaches and support staff of these two schools, there is one obvious positive with getting turf fields -- no more cutting grass!

McCollough surely is happy about this as he quipped, "Yep, no more sinus infections."

While we don't have the final costs for each of these turf installations, the initial budget for each project was estimated to cost $1.5 million when it was announced in early 2023. The money came from the Lafayette Parish School Board's capital budget.

Now that these two fields are turfed, there remain only two Lafayette Parish public high schools with natural grass football fields -- Carencro High and Comeaux High.