STORY BY NOAH TUCKER
Goblin Stadium was the long-time home of the Harrison Football program– until the late 2000s.
“When we moved here in 1982, we decided to make this the place to be,” said former Harrison Head Football Coach Tommy Tice. “And it already was, right here in the middle of town. You come through town there was no doubt there was a football game because signs in the window, signs in the marquees, everyone knew the Goblins were playing.”
Located along Crooked Creek in the middle of downtown– some believed the water produced magic that graced both the field and the players on it.
“From the blood, sweat, and tears of Goblins out here on this field over the years, when rains would come it would wash that magical concoction that creek and thus form the magic of crooked creek, and we’d call on that magic late in ball games,” Tice said.
Talk about home-field advantage– and if you don’t believe it, the 200-84-6 record under Tice might just be proof.
“Visiting teams, they knew when they came in, they were going to be playing on the creek,” said Brandon Burlsworth’s brother, Marty.
And not only did that magic produce wins but also legends.
Burlsworth is a sacred name in the city of Harrison—because of former Goblin Brandon Burlsworth, who went on to be an All-American Razorback before his tragic death in a car accident.
It was on the hallowed ground of Goblin Stadium that Burlsworth’s journey to stardom began.
“This is where he started playing 7th-grade football,” Marty Burlsworth said. “[He] wasn’t very good. But he learned and grew and played a lot of games on this field here. Quite a journey and it all started right here on this very field.”
The field hasn’t held a game in over a decade– more recently used for jr high practices. The final one was this past Thursday.
“This is it, and it all wraps up and I come down here sometimes and walk across this ole field or sit in the old bleachers and think about times past and also times to come,” Tice said.
The facility will soon make way for new construction on a new community center– with hopes that it will inspire the next generation of goblins.
But like the wins and the legends– the field and the magic will never be forgotten.
“Once this location looks totally different, we’ll have this memorialized whether that be a plaque or something along those lines, but this location always needs to be remembered,” said Burlsworth.
