PRAIRIE GROVE — Editor’s Note: This is the final installment of a season-long series on people involved in Friday night football. The series will highlight those who play key roles in making high school football a special event each week in small towns and big cities across Northwest Arkansas.
Larger animals have been appearing at football fields throughout Arkansas this season, including Lions, Tigers, Dragons, and even a giant Sand Lizard at Dardanelle.
But these animals are harmless and filled with hot air. They are the inflatable mascots and helmets that have become as much a part of the high school football landscape as cheerleaders and marching bands.
Instead of running through a large paper banner, teams increasing huddle in an inflatable tunnel with its team colors or mascot before rushing onto the field. Prairie Grove joined the trend this season by purchasing an inflatable tunnel for $5,300 from a company in Garland, Texas. The tunnel is 15 feet long and attached with a helmet 20 feet high in the school’s black and gold colors. Prairie Grove selected the helmet over an inflatable Tiger because the players and coaching staff liked it better.
The Tigers gathered in the tunnel last Friday before bursting onto the field for a third-round Class 4A playoff game against Nashville. Prairie Grove won the game 41-34 to advance to tonight’s semifinal game at Stuttgart.
“Everything in sports trickles down from the NFL, the colleges, and down to the high schools,” Prairie Grove Athletic Director Mike Green said. “The kids take pride in their field and to run through something like this just makes the high school experience better for them.”
Prairie Grove’s purchase began last fall as a school project in the East Lab Class at Prairie Grove High School. Students in the class are encouraged to be self-directed and willing to work as a team to execute something that will make an impact on their community.
Marissa Schroeder and Amanda Grant, who are now seniors, made a presentation to the school board for the inflatable tunnel last fall then began the challenge of asking for donations.
“Marissa and Amanda approached me to do this project and said they really wanted to have an inflatable for the football team like so many other schools had,” said Melissa Burton, who teaches the East Lab Class. “They thought the project would encourage school spirit. They also hoped to impact our community by asking everyone to come together to work on this goal. They were concerned about the costs but they told me ‘we will work on it until we get the money and if someone in East has to take it on after we graduate at least we will have achieved our goal.’”
The funding was secured before the season with a lot of help from the Prairie Grove community, including the parents and grandparents of the players. Many individuals gave $200 when they were asked for $100.
“The Pee Wee Booster Club was our first big supporter,” said Doug Allen, whose son, Landon, is a kicker for the Tigers. “After receiving a call that they would make a donation, another person called and said a player’s grandparents would like to give. After that, it seemed to steamroll and Amanda and Marissa continued to raise funds from companies in town.”
Inflatables are supposed to last 10-12 years, although the company in Texas still has some in use after 15 years. The Tigers put their inflatable to good use by going 7-0 at home this season and reaching the state semifinals for only the second time in school history.
“Could we live without this?,” Green said. “Sure. But it’s kind of like getting a Bose Radio for your car. It just adds to the enjoyment.”