Backyard Bowl Moved to Union's Backyard

Originally Published: Apr 29, 2010 3:1 PM CDT

Andrew Topps
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

TULSA, Oklahoma -- The Backyard Bowl will once again have a change in venue. This season’s Jenks-Union game, scheduled for 7:05 p.m., Friday, Sept 10, will be played at Union-Tuttle stadium instead of the University of Tulsa’s Chapman stadium due to a scheduling conflict.

“The University of Tulsa informed us they had a game that Saturday night at home versus Bowling Green,” Union Athletic Director Chuck Perry said. “They could not accommodate a football game that Friday night. The turnaround would be too quick to prepare the stadium and clean it up.”

This will be the second time in three years that Union will host the Backyard Bowl. Even though the contest is usually played at a neutral site, it is still consider a home-home series, which fell to Union this year.

Perry said Union-Tuttle stadium holds around 10,000 people; more than 18,000 showed up for last year’s Backyard Bowl. Chapman Stadium fits around 30,000, which is a major reason Perry was a little bit disappointed in the change in location.

“We’d rather have it TU,” Perry said. “It’s a lot bigger venue. It allows more fans in to come and see a great football game every year.”

Jenks and Union have combined for the last 14 6A state titles and have met in the championship game the last three years.